The Marauderette AKA The Other Chosen One: Part 1
by MrsSiriusBlack4eva
Summary: Rachel Delancy, a halfblood, is starting off her schooling at Hogwarts. She plans on having relaxing and fun times there. Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan. Marauders born in 90s Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
1. Chapter 1

It was a muggy, hot July 21st in the year 2004. Even though the day was drawing to a close, it felt hotter than ever, the hottest day that Ducton, North Carolina had seen in over 3 decades. At Terri Park, only two eleven year old girls were left: a tall, pretty, and skinny brunette with auburn and honey blond streaks through her shiny, straight that fell on her shoulders, wearing a black and white striped one-piece swimsuit and black flip-flops; the other was about a head shorter, also pretty, with long, wavy, red hair, startling green eyes, wearing a white swimsuit and matching shoes. They were walking on Pacific drive toward the last two houses on the street, bordering the beaches by the Atlantic Ocean.

"So, Rachel, are you planning on going to Ducton Junior High or Adams Junior High?" asked Lily Evans, the red-headed girl. The other girl, Rachel, suddenly got an uncomfortable and guilty expression.

"I'm—" said Rachel, with a little hesitation. "I'm not going to either of them."

"So where are you going to go?" shock etched on Lily's face as she responded to this new information.

"There's this really incredible school that my mom attended, and she really wants me to go there."

"What school is it? Maybe my parents will let me go there too."

"Lily, it's a very, very selective school. They actually choose you without you sending in an application. I'm so sorry, but if you were accepted, you should know by now."

They finally came upon their destination; two houses were standing next to each other: one was a two-story brick house with a colorful garden; the other was a white house with a large backyard, with a tree house in the tallest elm tree.

"Lily?" Rachel said, with a worried look.

"I have to go, my parents will start to worry," said Lily coldly.

Rachel heard the tone of her voice and decided not to push the subject, not wanting her best friend to become angrier. Without another word, Lily started up the walkway to the white house, and finally entered.

Feeling miserable, Rachel walked into her house and into the kitchen. It was comfortable and cozy looking in there. In the middle of the room was an island table and her parents were occupying two of the six chairs. When she entered, they both looked up at her.

Her mother, in her late thirties, and looked so much like Rachel, smiled and said, "I was wondering when you were coming home. We wanted to wait with dinner until you got here."

"There's a letter waiting for you," her handsome father said. He too, was in his late thirties, with light brown hair, and dazzling blue eyes, which Rachel had happily inherited from him. At his words, she looked at the letter sitting on the table, had a feeling about what it was, and quickly grabbed it and opened.

_Ms. Rachel Delancy—_

_It is our pleasure to announce that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will find a list of your supplies on this letter. The first day is on September 1__st__. The train leaves at 11:00am at King's Cross, Platform 9 ¾._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress._

_First Years are required to have:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter coat (black, silver fastenings)_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_ Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_ Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

_1 wand_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_May also bring cat OR owl OR toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

While Rachel had been reading this acceptance letter, she didn't even notice that her two younger sisters and older brother had entered the kitchen and took their places around the table. She snapped out of her non-observant state when all of them yelled, "Congratulations!"

Rachel looked up at her brother, Thomas, who looked like her dad; her younger sister, Angela, who was very blonde and was only 4 years old; and her youngest sister, Danielle, who was also very blond and greatly resembled Rachel, and she was only 3 years old. They were all beaming at her and she returned it.

"We have a Hogwarts student in our family!" Tommy said enthusiastically. He attended the smaller Wizarding school of Duffletown. Rachel's mother, Victoria, had also attended Hogwarts. Her father, David, was a Muggle (non-magic) so he never attended any Wizarding school.

Danielle and Angela got up and hugged their sister simultaneously. "Go sit in your seats," she told them, and Tommy helped them into their chairs.

"Well, since Rachel is here and she's read her letter, we should probably have dinner since everyone here is hungry." said Victoria.

Before their eyes, a plate of cooked fish and a bowl of rice landed on the table, along with a jug of water. They toasted to Rachel and then had one of the most delicious meals Rachel had ever tasted. By the time they had all finished, all of them were thoroughly full. And with that, Victoria sent them all off to bed, saying that they had an early morning, for they were going shopping for Rachel's supplies.

Morning came all too quickly for Rachel; her mother was waking her up just after it felt like she had fallen asleep.

"Time to get up, Rachel."

"What time is it?" Rachel responded groggily.

"It's only 8:30, it's not even early." Victoria said, trying her best to stifle the laughter that had nearly burst out of her. "Come on, now. I want you ready to go in twenty minutes and meet us downstairs in the kitchen." And with that, she walked out of the room. Feeling slightly resentful, Rachel rolled out of bed and started to pick out her outfit. After five minutes of different possibilities, she picked out a white tank-top with maroon colored flowers on it, some tan shorts, and her black sandals. She went into her bathroom, put her hair together, brushed her teeth, and then went downstairs, where the rest of the family was waiting for her.

"Okay, now that everyone's accounted for," David said, checking his watch, "we should probably get going. Vikki, how do you want to go? Should we drive?"

"It does take a little bit to get there, since it's by the northern side of the beach . . . let's drive." Victoria answered, throwing David the keys.

After they had piled into the midnight blue 2004 Audi S4, got the Danielle into her car seat, David started the car, backed out of the driveway, and went off down the street.

The drive towards the north end of Covington Beach was smooth, since rush hour had been a couple of hours beforehand. David and Victoria sat in the front, talking about work, friends, and colleagues, as usual; Danielle and Angela were playing I Spy with Tommy; Rachel sat there, watching the beach and the people that were relaxing on it, trying to keep her patience. It was actually a halfway short trip, but Rachel was bursting with excitement, and wanted to get there immediately.

Thirty minutes later, they parked by a meter on Main Street in Raleigh, the state capital. David put some money in the meter, and then the six of them started off down the sidewalk.

"It's only a couple of blocks away," Victoria informed them, then added, "Tommy, will you please hold Danielle and Angela's hand."

In no time at all, they came upon an inn called The Leaky Cauldron, which looked a little shabby but comfortable nonetheless. They entered through the front doors and immediately turned left, toward the bar. Walking through the smoky and liquor smelling room, they came upon a back door, which they went through. There was a small alleyway, with a garbage can, and they were facing a brick wall. Victoria pulled out her wand, tapped a brick that was eye level, and suddenly the bricks began to twist and form an entrance.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!" Victoria said to them.

It was the most incredible thing that Rachel had ever seen. There were many people walking along in groups, laughing and shopping, shops all around, when put together, probably sold everything a witch or wizard could ever need. Taking out the list of supplies, Rachel said, "Where should we start?"

"Um," said Victoria, looking over Rachel's shoulder at the list. "Let's start with your wand, that's always fun. Ollivanders' is just up there, don't go anywhere else, he's the best wandmaker there is."

They walked a few steps and entered the shop. It was a small shop, with large shelves, all filled with long, rectangular boxes, which contained different wands.

"Hello?" David called out into the silence.

An old, very short man, with thin silver hair on a rolling ladder came out from the shelves, climbed down, and faced them.

"Ah," he said, in a slow voice. "Mrs. Delancy . . . 10 inches, dragon heartstring and pine, correct?"

"Right on the money," Victoria responded with a smile on her face. "We need to buy Rachel her first wand,"

Ollivander walked behind the sales counter and beckoned Rachel to him.

"Which is your wand arm?" he asked.

"My right," Rachel responded, feeling slightly nervous.

The man took out a tape measurer, held it up to her arm, then recorded the measurement before making it disappear.

"Wait here just one moment," he said, disappearing amongst the shelves.

Moments later, Ollivander came out with a long, black box, and set it on the counter. He opened it up, took out a wand, and handed it to Rachel. As Rachel took hold of it, her whole body felt warm and comfortable, and it looked as though there was a glow around her.

"Perfect!" said Ollivander, smiling at her. "9 ½ inches, oak and phoenix feather, good for charms and transfiguration. That will be ten galleons."

Victoria stepped forward to the counter, took out her wallet, and handed him ten golden round coins.

"Have a nice day, Ollivander," called Victoria as they exited the store. Rachel crossed off that item on the list.

"Where to next?" she asked.

About an hour later, they had bought all of Rachel's supplies, and they bought her a black and white owl, which Rachel named Pepper.

Still excited about the many magical school purchases, Rachel was extremely talkative on the car ride back, which slightly annoyed her siblings.

After returning home, Rachel dumped all of her stuff in her room, ran down the stairs, and went to the pool to look for Lily. She arrived in about two minutes, and looked at the many kids and adults who were using the pool to cool off, but Lily was no where to be found.

Walking another block, she came upon a park that was deserted except for a swing which was occupied by a familiar redhead. Rachel ran towards it, wanting to make up with her best friend.

"Lily?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

"Hi, Rachel," Lily responded, not looking up.

Rachel took the red swing next to the blue swing that Lily was sitting on. Though the day was much cooler than yesterday, it was still quiet hot outside, and the swing burned Rachel slightly. The light breeze made the swings creak slightly as the two girls sat there, in silence, looking at the ground.

"Rach," Lily said, finally looking at her friend. Rachel looked at Lily and saw that the brilliantly blue eyes that were usually filled with joy had a tinge of sadness in them. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," said Rachel, getting a grin on her face and sounding more like herself.

"Last night, when I got home . . ." Lily started, but then stopped. It was apparent that she was slightly nervous about revealing whatever it was that she was going to tell Rachel. "He told me that I was a . . . a . . . witch."

"What?"

"A man came and told me that I was a witch, and that I had been accepted to a Wizarding school called Hogwarts."

Rachel's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed. "I'm going to Hogwarts also!"

"Really?" Lily had a skeptical look on her face.

"Yeah, watch,"

Rachel started to swing higher and higher until she was over ten feet high and then jumped off the swing, did a flip in the air, and landed way too softly.

Lily sat there on her swing, jaw dropped, looking at Rachel with amazement. She jumped off her swing and hugged her best friends, all while jumping up and down and chanting, "We're going to Hogwarts, we're going to Hogwarts!"

After a minute or two of chanting and hugging, the girls released each other and started talking about what it will be like to learn magic.

"Well, my mom's actually a witch, but my dad's a Muggle," Rachel told Lily, as they occupied their swings again.

"Wow! Did she go to Hogwarts too?"

"Yeah, and Tommy is a wizard, but he goes to a smaller Wizarding school called Duffletown. He goes there for seven years also, and this is his third year."

"Awesome! So, what does Muggle mean?" Lily asked her. She knew that Rachel had more knowledge of these magical terms and wanted to know as much as she possibly could, before being with witches and wizards.

"It means people who aren't a witch or wizard. But sometimes a witch can be born to a completely Muggle family, and no one knows why."

"My parents were so excited, but Tuney looked really sad. I think she wants to be a witch too."

"Yeah, well, it's not your fault." Rachel told her, hoping it would make her feel better. Lily and her sister, Petunia, were almost as close as Lily was with Rachel, and Lily didn't like it when Petunia was mad at her.

"So, tell me everything you know about Hogwarts. I don't want to seem like an idiot when we go." Lily said.

"Okay. Well, according to my mom, during your first two years, you take Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, and Charms. But when we go into our third year, we have to take those five classes, but we can choose two more. Then, when you're in your fifth year, you have to take your O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Level), and whatever subjects you pass on that test, you can take those classes for the rest of your years there, but in your seventh and last year, you have to take your N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test), and you have to do good on both of those tests if you want to get a good job."

"Wow, what else?"

"There are four houses: Gryffindor, which my mom was in, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. She told me that when we arrive, we'll get sorted into our houses, but she won't tell me what we have to do. That makes me really nervous."

"I wonder what we'll have to do," Lily said.

"Anyway, when are you going to get your supplies?" Rachel asked, wanting to get off of the subject that made her insides feel like jelly.

"I don't know yet. The man told us where to go and how to get there, so my parents are trying to figure out when we're going. Have you gotten your things?"

"Yeah, we went this morning. You'll have _so_ much fun there!"

They sat there, talking about nothing in general, until they noticed that dusk was coming. Deciding that they should go home, and eat something, since they had not eaten lunch, they walked to their neighboring houses, said good-bye, and went inside.

"Mom, Dad, you'll never believe this!" Rachel yelled as she ran into the kitchen, where her parents were sitting, waiting for dinner to be done.

"What's made you all jumpy, sweetie?" David asked.

"Lily's going to Hogwarts also!" Rachel shrieked, jumping up and down and clapping. Her usually well kept brown hair was a little messy from all of the jumping.

"What? How do you know?"

Rachel jumped into the story, telling them about when Lily told her about attending Hogwarts, to the swings, and then about the man that had visited the house last night.

"That is great, Rachel! Now you'll know someone there right away!" Victoria said, very happy in how excited Rachel was.

The rest of the month flew by very quickly. Although Rachel and Lily still hung out a lot, she noticed that Petunia wasn't ever speaking to Lily and that Lily was hanging out with a small boy who dressed strangely. One time, while walking around the neighborhood, Rachel could've sworn she had seen the black-haired boy do magic, but convinced herself that she was imagining things.


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, September 1st came and Rachel started packing the second she had gotten dressed and eaten breakfast. There was a lot to pack, but Rachel, who had amazing skill in organization, made everything fit perfectly, and still had a little spare room. At  
10: 30am, Victoria called Rachel down to the kitchen, to pack up her stuff in the car. After double and triple checking her list, and checking that Pepper was secure in her cage, brought her luggage downstairs for her parents to load up.

A couple of minutes later, the family had packed the luggage in the trunk, loaded the family into the car, and honked once, to tell Lily and her family that they were leaving. Since Lily's parents didn't know where this train station was, they were going to follow David and Victoria there.

David backed the blue Audi out of the driveway, and started off down the street, closely followed by the silver 2003 Cadillac that Lily's parents owned.

"How are you feeling, Rachel?" asked Tommy, who was sitting next to her.

"A little nervous, to be honest, but I'm really excited. When does Duffletown start their year?"

"Not for another week, we're going to get my stuff after you've left." he informed her. "We're really going to miss you around the house, Rach,"

"Yep!" Danielle and Angela agreed.

Before long, they had arrived at King's Cross, found a parking spot, unloaded the luggage, and went inside along with Lily and her family.

All of them followed Victoria, since she was the only one who had ever gone to Hogwarts, and stopped at a pillar between platform 9 and platform 10.

"Rachel, will you come here, please?"

Rachel walked forward, carrying Pepper in her cage, and then her mom said,

"We're going to walk at the pillar and enter through it."

"What?"

"Just, take my hand."

Rachel grabbed her mom's hand, while the others watched.

"Just walk," said Victoria loud enough for the Evans family to hear, then pulled Rachel into a steady walk. She closed her eyes as she was close to the pillar, but surprisingly ran into nothing; she opened her eyes and saw that she was on a completely different platform, where many kids were carrying luggage, and many owls were hooting in their cages.

Rachel looked back in time to see David, with Danielle, and soon after, Tommy with Angela enter through the pillar. A minute later, the Evans family had joined them.

"Well, Rachel, you had better hurry so you can get a decent seat." said Victoria, and gave Rachel a big hug. Rachel then gave a hug to her dad, to Tommy, and the little blondes, before telling Lily that she was going to find some seats.

Rachel grabbed her suitcase from her dad, secured Pepper's cage in her arm better, and boarded the train. Instead of seats in one room, the train was split up into compartments, with padded seats inside each one. Many of them were already full, but towards the back, Rachel came upon one that was only occupied by two boys. She opened the glass sliding door.

"Can I sit with you guys?"

"Yeah, of course," answered the boy who sat closest to the door.

Rachel went inside, set Pepper's cage down on one of the seats and attempted to put her suitcase in the rack above them. Suddenly, one of the boys came up behind her and said, "Let me help with that,"

"Thanks," Rachel told him, after they had secured the luggage. She sat down in one seats across from them and looked at the two boys. The one that sat closest to the door was tan, and had black hair that stood up all over the place, and had hazel eyes. The other boy who had helped Rachel with her luggage, was quite good-looking, with light grey eyes, and black hair that hung quite elegantly in his face. Rachel couldn't help but look at him, but snapped out of her trance when the messy haired boy said, "Hi, I'm James Potter! What's your name?"

"Rachel Delancy," she responded with a smile on her face.

"I'm Sirius Black," the other boy told her, giving her a charming smile.

"So—" James started, but stopped when Lily entered the compartment, and threw herself down in the seat closest to the window next to Rachel.

Rachel had never seen Lily this upset before, because Lily never cried.

"What's wrong, Lily?" she asked.

"Petunia called me a really mean name before I boarded the train," she responded without looking up.

Once again, the door opened up, and the greasy, black-haired boy who Lily had been hanging out with recently sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

She threw him a look of deep dislike.

"She's my sister!"

"She's only a—" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

"But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said the boy, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?" asked James. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I though you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

The greasy boy made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said the boy, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither!" interjected Sirius.

James and Rachel roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oh, come on Lily, they're not that bad!" Rachel shouted after her as the door slammed shut.

"So, you know that girl?" Sirius asked, no longer having the mean tone in his voice.

"Yeah, her name's Lily Evans, and we've been friends since we were little," Rachel told them both.

"You can talk to her when we get there. Besides, we don't want _Snivellus_ sitting with us." James consoled Rachel.

"So, you both want to be in Gryffindor, too?" Rachel asked them.

"Of course, I'm guessing you want the same outcome?" Sirius answered.

"Yeah, my mom was in Gryffindor,"

"What about your dad?"

"Oh, he's a Muggle, but he's really supportive of the whole magical world thing."

"Yeah, James and I are both pure-bloods, but we're not judgmental, especially living with my family," Sirius said and added a slightly darker tone when mentioning his family.

Then train started to gain speed and soon, King's Cross was nowhere to be seen. Rachel was very happy that it was just her, James, and Sirius in the compartment, since they were having a lot of fun together.

"You're into ballroom dancing?" James asked, after talking about hobbies.

"Yeah, I've been in it for a year. After I get back from Hogwarts, my dance partner, Drew, and I have our first professional competition."

"Well, you should write to us and tell us when it is so we can come," said Sirius.

Rachel was surprised by how respectful the boys were of her favorite hobby, considering many people thought that she was strange for liking it.

"So, what's your favorite position to play in Quidditch?" Rachel asked them.

In Quidditch, there were seven players: three Chasers, they were the ones who try and score points with the Quaffle; two Beaters, they carried around small bats to protect their team from the violent balls called Bludgers; the Keeper, who has to protect their team's goal; a Seeker, who has to catch a small golden ball called the Snitch. The game would end only when one of the Seekers caught the ball, and their team would gain 150 points, usually winning the game for them.

"I like to play Chaser," answered James.

"I love playing Chaser too," Sirius said, giving James a smile, then turning back to Rachel. "What do you like playing?"

"Seeker," Rachel said, grinning.

"You know what, if we make it into Gryffindor, I hear that most of the team will be graduating this year, so maybe we should try out next year!" said James, barely containing his glee.

"We'll see what happens," Sirius told James.

After another hour or so of talking, Rachel checked her watch.

"We should be getting there soon, maybe we should change into our robes," she suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," agreed James.

So they went off toward the bathrooms in the back of the train to change into their black Hogwarts uniforms, waited for each other to finish and went back to the compartment together.

"I'm so excited to start classes," Rachel told them when they sat back down.

"I can't wait 'til potions!" Sirius said, with an evil grin on his face.

"You know, I haven't known you that long, and already that scares me," Rachel said, trying hard to hold back her laughter.

"I completely agree!" James managed to say through his laughing.

Sirius gave threw him a look, then started in with the laughing. Just as they started to catch their breath, the Hogwarts Express started to slow down.

"Finally," Sirius said, "I'm starving!"

"I hope we're all in the same house," said Rachel.

"That would be awesome," agreed James.

"Yes, and James and I have agreed to officially make you a part of our group,"

"Gosh, I'm just _so_ honored," said Rachel, sarcasm in her voice, and they started chuckling again. Finally, the train came to a full stop. James and Sirius got up from their seats, grabbed Rachel's luggage, and handed it to her, before getting their own.

"You know," she told them as they were navigating their way to the doors as many students started piling out of the compartments, "you are such gentlemen to me."

"Well, you're just one of the lucky ones," Sirius said with a grin.

Finally getting out of train, they heard a gruff voice saying, "Firs' years, this way! Over 'ere, please!" Making their way to the voice, they were slightly shocked to see who it belonged to. There was a man, about ten feet tall, large bushy beard and bushy hair, and slightly reminded Rachel of a man who tried to perform a Growing Spell on himself that went badly.

There was a group of about thirty first years standing by the large man, while the other students were walking the opposite way.

"We'll be crossin' the lake ter get there," he told them, and led them towards the wooden boats.

It was five people in a boat, so Rachel, James, and Sirius sat in one, and were joined soon after by two boys. One had short, sandy hair and a slightly ill look, the other one was quite short and had small watery eyes.

Rachel was slightly shocked at how quiet they were while crossing the lake, but she could tell that the guys were getting nervous about the sorting also. Tension was filling the air, as the boats edged closer and closer to the edge of the lake. Looking behind her, she nudged James and Sirius, and indicated what she was looking at. They also turned around.

There was a large and magnificent looking castle, with many lit windows that stood out against the cloudy dark sky. The entire sight of it was mesmerizing, and they watched it until the boat bumped against the shore. James threw the rope around it, tying the boat to the shore, then got out and helped Rachel get out too. Sirius followed them, as did the other two boys.

Together, they walked behind the large man up to the large wooden doors that led into the castle. The man knocked once, and then the doors opened by themselves, allowing them to enter the castle.

When they entered, Rachel was amazed by what she saw. The entrance hall was quite large, lit up by torches, and the ceiling was so high that you couldn't make it out. A woman in emerald green robes came down the marble staircase that they face. She had her hair in a tight bun and wore a pointed hat on her head, and looked very strict indeed.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said to the giant man, and with that he walked out of the castle. "Follow me, please," she told the first years.

They all followed her up the staircase. Apparently, it wasn't just James, Sirius, Rachel, and the two other boys that joined them in the boat that were nervous: the other students seemed to be glancing around nervously. At the top of staircase, they all stopped before an entrance.

"The sorting ceremony will begin shortly," she told them. "I shall return for you in a moment." She walked into the room, leaving the students on the stairs.

"You look nervous," Rachel told James and Sirius with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah, well, so do you," Sirius retorted.

"Everyone's nervous," James pointed out.

But before they could continue their conversation, the woman had come into the room and told them, "We're ready for you," and with that, she led them into the next room.

They all entered what must be the Great Hall, because it was a lot like the description her mom had given her. The ceiling was a resembled the night sky, the room was quite large, and there was a long table at the other end of the room, where many adult wizards sat, and in the middle, sat a very old man in a magnificent chair. There were four other long tables, two on each side of the group of first years, now walking toward the front of the room. There were three steps leading from up to the adult wizard table, and on the top step there was a stool, and on top of the stool sat a very old, tattered hat. The woman who had led them into the room stopped, and turned to tell them, "When I call your name, please step forward, sit on the stool, and place the hat on your head."

"Oh thank goodness," Rachel whispered to James and Sirius. "I was worried that we had to do some complicated spell or something."

They nodded fervently to agree with her, their faces looking much more relaxed than just a minute ago.

"Adams, Nathan." called the woman.

A small, timid looking boy walked nervously up to the stool and sat upon it, placing the hat on his head. Suddenly, the hat had a mouth that represented a rip and shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

Afterwards, the next two people were sorted into Ravenclaw, and then the name, "Black, Sirius" came into the open. Sirius walked up to the stool, sat down, and put the hat on his head. Soon afterwards, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The farthest table to her right burst into applause as Sirius went to join the Gryffindors. The person before Rachel was sorted into Slytherin, and then Rachel stepped up to the stool and placed the hat on her head as she sat down. She could hear the hat talking, "Hmm, difficult, very difficult. Lots of talent, bravery, and courage, and a good mind. Well, then lets choose, GRYFFINDOR!"

She released her breath that had been held as she sat there, and joined the applauding Gryffindors, taking a seat next to Sirius, who gave her a one-armed hug. A minute later, Rachel held her breath as the woman called out, "Evans, Lily!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius and Rachel joined in the loud clapping as Lily took a seat next to Rachel and they hugged each other, then turned back toward the front to see the rest be sorted. A little later, after there had been a few Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and a Slytherin, the sandy haired boy named Remus Lupin, stepped forward and was also sorted into Gryffindor. He took a seat across from Sirius and gave them a smile, which they returned. By the time the sorting was done, the short boy who accompanied Remus earlier, along with James, had been sorted into Gryffindor, and Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin, which slightly disappointed Lily.

The man who occupied the magnificent chair stood up. The had waist-length white hair and beard, and looked very old indeed. He said in a deep voice, "Now, my name is Professor Dumbledore, in case some of you don't know. I would like to announce a few things before we become too befuddled by our excellent feast. For those who don't know, the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden for students to enter. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would also like to remind you that there should be no duels and no pranks. Wandering around after hours is also against the rules. Now, I'll let you enjoy the feast."

And with a clap, the tables filled up with many plates and bowls of food, so much, that Rachel could hardly comprehend that there was so much food. She reached for some chicken and poured herself a glass of milk. Sirius and James were eating like they had been starving for a couple of days. Rachel and Lily discussed what their Muggle friends would think of their absence, and Lily said that they'll probably make up a story that they went to a different school. After the food had finally disappeared and Rachel felt considerably fuller, Professor Dumbledore stood up and announced, "Now, I'll allow you to go up to your rooms, where your luggage is sitting by your beds, and get some sleep so that you can have a decent first week of school."

There was a loud scraping as people moved the benches back to leave. An older boy, with short brown hair, called to them, "First years, follow me, please," and the group of first year Gryffindors followed him out of the Great Hall. "There are 52 staircases, and they like to change, so be careful about that. There's also a trick step by the fourth floor, so make sure you jump over it, I'll show it to you when we go up."

The group followed him slightly, trying to take in everything they were seeing: hundreds of portraits with moving and talking subjects, ghosts that flew around, and many moving staircases, all while trying to remember how to get to the Gryffindor common room. Finally, when they finished walking up the stairs that led to the seventh floor, they were facing a portrait with a fat lady in it wearing a frilly dress and hair in curls. "Password?"

"Draconis," said the boy who led them up. The portrait swung forward, allowing them inside. When they had all climbed through the door and into a room, where there were maroon chairs and sofas around a fireplace and many tables, the boy told them, "Boys, your room is up the stairs and to the left, girls, the same on your right," and with that, he went up the stairs, took a left, and then climbed up another staircase, apparently leading to the other rooms that the Gryffindor boys occupied. Rachel, James, and Sirius went up the stairs, but instead of Rachel going to the right, she joined them and went to left, insisting on seeing their room and who their roommates were.

They entered a room where four beds are sitting, all with a good deal of space between them, and there was a door that lead to the bathroom on the other side of the area. James and Sirius found their beds, that were neighboring, and plopped down on them, Rachel jumped onto Sirius's bed with him, waiting for the other two boys to show up. The sandy haired boy named Remus Lupin and the short one named Peter Pettigrew entered the room and walked over the three that were already sitting there.

"Hello, I'm Remus Lupin," the blonde boy said, shaking hands with Rachel, Sirius, and James. "And this is Peter Pettigrew," and the short boy followed suit.

"Hi, I'm James Potter," James told them, then indicated the other two. "And these are my friends, Sirius Black and Rachel Delancy."

They all smiled at each other and then Rachel said, "Well, guys, we'd better go to bed, so we can focus on our classes tomorrow," and then waved at the guys as she left the room and found the girls bedroom, where there were only two beds, instead of four, due to the lack of people sorted into Gryffindor this year. It was just Rachel and Lily, who hugged each other and celebrated the fact that they had made it in the same house. Soon after, though, they agreed that they should get some sleep, since the first day of classes was tomorrow.

After changing into pajamas, Rachel got under the warm covers and discovered that this bed was just as comfortable as her bed at home, which was a nice thought, and drifted off to sleep quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rachel? Rachel," someone whispered in her ear. "Rachel! You need to wake up some we can get some breakfast!"

Rachel jerked awake, discovering Lily standing over her, attempting to wake her.

"I'm up, I'm up, Lily," Rachel reassured her groggily.

With that, Lily jumped off the bed and proceeded to get her hair and teeth brushed, while Rachel rolled out of bed and put on her Hogwarts uniform, wishing desperately that she could sleep in longer, and then took care of her hair and teeth and went down to the Great Hall with Lily.

When they arrived, they discovered that the four boys were already there, laughing and talking, and Rachel sat down between James and Sirius while Lily sat across from them next to Peter.

"So, what's on the schedule for today?" Rachel asked them while buttering a couple pieces of toast.

"Potions, Charms, History of Magic, all of the classes that we're supposed to take this year." Sirius answered her after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes. How he had swallowed that much food was a mystery to Rachel.

"Potions is our first class? You must be excited, Sirius!" James asked Sirius with a grin on his face, and Rachel smiled, because he knew that they were referring to the conversation they had had on the train the previous day.

"Of course," he said, returning the grin.

A couple of minutes later, Lily said that she was going to talk to someone and that she'll see them in class. They watched her as she went over to the greasy kid.

"Why is your friend hanging out with _Snivellus_?" James asked her, with a slight repulsive note.

"I don't know, but she was hanging out with him a lot during the end of summer instead of me." she said casually, although it still bothered her a little.

"Oh well, we know that you've got better taste than she does since you've chosen to hang out with us," Sirius said with a smile.

"Don't make me change my mind," she said playfully, pointing a piece of toast at him, which he tried to take from her hand, and wouldn't release it until he insisted on taking half of it, and then ate it before she could say anything else. Seeing the look on her face, Sirius gave her a hug and apologized.

"Wow, Sirius, I've only known for a couple of days, but you seem surprisingly soft when it comes to our Rachel, here," interjected James, trying to hide his amusement in the situation.

"Whatever," Sirius muttered, returning to his food.

"So, Remus, tell me about yourself." Rachel said, trying to veer the subject a different way, and she talked with Remus and Peter until they all decided to leave for the dungeons, where they were having Potions. The five of them all walked down there together, chatting away about random things, like the fact that Sirius is obsessed about his hair, even though he denies it, he knows it's true.

"Settle down, settle down," said the Potions teacher. He was short and fat, but looked like he was an upbeat person. Rachel, James, and Sirius were sitting at a table in the back while Remus and Peter, joined by Lily, were sitting at the table in front of them.

"I am Professor Slughorn, and today will consist of creating a simple boil curing potion in groups of three."

Potions turned out to be a fun class, and then they went to Charms, where they were learning to levitate items, which Rachel accomplished on the second time, earning ten points for Gryffindor. The professor, Professor Flitwick, was a man who barely reached four feet, but turned out to be fun teacher.

History of Magic turned out to be the most boring class and many of the people there could barely stay awake and none of them listened to him, although Remus and Lily tried unsuccessfully. Professor Binns, was the only teacher that was a ghost, and clearly did not notice the lack of listening as he read from their textbook.

After lunch, they went to Transfiguration, where the woman who had lead them into the Great Hall the previous day, introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and Rachel could tell that she was going to be the strictest of the teachers.

Afterwards, they went down to the greenhouse for their first Herbology lesson, which turned out to be boring, but only because it was their first lesson.

The class that Rachel was looking most forward to, Defense Against the Dark Arts, did not disappoint her, and they learned about the most infamous Dark Wizards, mainly Grindelwald, who Dumbledore had defeated many years ago.

On the way back to the common room to drop off their books, they celebrated the fact that they only had one subject of homework: Defense Against the Dark Arts. There was a three paragraph paper on Grindelwald's reign due tomorrow. Rachel, Remus, and Peter were making fun of James and Sirius for already being the object of the daydreams that girls had.

"That's just because we're so wonderfully good-looking," James said as an excuse, and glared at Rachel, Remus, and Peter when they started laughing.

"Password?" the fat lady cut in.

"Draconis," said Peter, and she allowed them to enter.

"Anyway, I'm thinking of going to the library to look up some jinxes to use on Snape," said James. "Anyone want to come?"

"Definitely," said Sirius, as he dropped his bag onto his bed. "Hey, Rachel, wanna come with me and James to the library to look up jinxes for Snape?" he asked her as she entered the boy's dormitory after dropping off her stuff.

"Sure, we don't have dinner for a little bit yet. Remus, Peter, you should come!" she responded.

"Fine, I'll come, as long as I'm not forced to get detention on the first day for jinxing someone," said Remus while Peter nodded.

They left the Gryffindor common room and started toward the library.

"We have our first flying lesson tomorrow, right?" Peter asked anxiously.

"Yeah, first thing in the morning," Sirius said. "I can't wait to show off my awesome skills,"

"Awesome skills of falling off," Rachel added, earning her a pat on the back from the other boys for that comment.

After twenty minutes of looking up jinxes, they went down to the Great Hall for dinner, where James used one of his newly learned spells on Snape, and escaped a detention when Snape screamed about his hair turning pink. That night, while finishing their homework, they kept reliving this moment and laughing their heads off.

The next day, the five of them went down to the Quidditch pitch after breakfast, where they were the last ones to arrive. They all took brooms that were next to each other, and a minute later, a woman wearing black robes came out to the field and stood in the middle of the group, and said, "Good morning. I am Madam Hooch, and this is your first flying lesson. Now, step up the right side of your broom and say 'up'!"

"Up!" said the group all at once. Rachel's broom flew up into her hand the first time, as did James's, but Sirius, Remus, and Peter were having problems getting their broom and had to say 'up' several times like so many others.

"Hey, Sirius, is this included in your 'awesome skills' that you claimed to have?" James said, laughing as he watched Sirius trying to get his broom, and James earned a whack when the broom was in Sirius's hand.

Luckily, the lesson went better after that, and they went off to their classes.

During the next month, not much had changed. They still didn't have very much homework, James and Sirius kept pulling pranks on Snape, earning them both a couple of detentions, and Remus disappeared for a couple of days, but when asked about it, he merely said, 'My uncle died and I was at his funeral,' and they didn't think much of Remus looking sick, since he had attended a funeral.

On the day of Saturday, October 16, Rachel woke up to see her dormitory completely empty, which was strange because Lily always slept in on the weekend. She got out of bed, did her daily routine, put on a red t-shirt with jean Capri's, and went down to the common room, hoping to have a good day, since it was an important one. . . .

As she stepped on the last step and looked up, she saw James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter standing around a table with many presents on it, and they startled her by shouting, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Wow," she said, running towards them. "I though you had forgotten or something,"

"No, we would never," said Remus, giving her a hug.

"Lily told us to tell you that she says 'Happy Birthday', she went down to breakfast because she wanted to talk to _Snivellus_," Sirius added, giving her a hug after James and Peter.

"You guys are the best!" she told them, beaming.

She received a pink scarf and matching gloves from her family, chocolates from Peter, a book from her favorite author, Dean Koontz, from Remus, stink pellets (to use on Snivellus) from James, perfume from Sirius, and a CD from Lily.

"Okay," she said after putting her gifts in her room, "let's get some breakfast,"

Thanks to the guys and Lily, Rachel had a very enjoyable twelfth birthday and was sad when it was over. The next memorable day was Halloween, only because of the massive feast and tremendously decorated Great Hall. There were huge pumpkins and lots of things related to Halloween.

"It's a real shame that Remus isn't here," Peter pointed out in the middle of eating.

"I think it's a little suspicious, that he keeps leaving around the same time each month for a couple of days, don't you?" James asked.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too," agreed Sirius, but soon after, got off the subject.

Time flew right before their eyes and all of a sudden, it was Christmas break. Everyone was going home for the holidays, and all left the first day of break.

"Remember, Sirius, if you have a rough time at your house, you can always stay with me," Rachel told him, since he seemed the least happy to see his family.

"Thanks," he said, before leaving.

"I'm home," Rachel called out, when she was in her parents' kitchen.

"Rachel!" came two voices that sounded like little girls, before Danielle and Angela came running towards her and she swept them into her arms.

"Oh, it's so good to see you," she told them. "Have you been behaving for Mom and Dad?"

"Yep," they said together. Sometimes, Rachel was amazed that they weren't twins since they thought exactly alike. The girls pulled away and went running out of the room shouting, "Mommy, Daddy, Tommy, Rachel's home!"

"Rachel," came her mom and dad's voices, and they too came into the kitchen and gave her a hug, before Tommy came in and did the same. He took her bags up to her room and came back down to the kitchen, where everyone was sitting, Victoria already getting dinner ready.

"So, Rachel," David started, "how's school going? Have you made any friends?"

"Yeah," she said, "classes are really good. On the train, I sat with these two boys named James Potter and Sirius Black, and we're really good friends now, and I'm also friends with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"That's good," her mom said. "Do you still hang out with Lily?"

"Yeah, sometimes, but she's friends with a Slytherin, so I'm not really around her as much as the guys,"

"_Slytherin?_"

"Yeah, apparently they met on the train . . . it's not a big deal,"

During the rest of the night, they talked about school and, the family's favorite sport, football.

"So, how have the Raiders been doing?" Rachel asked her dad.

"Not too bad, actually," her dad told her, while eating dessert, cheesecake. "They're 7-4 right now, and you've beaten Denver, San Diego, and Kansas once, but you lost one game to Denver, and another to San Diego, but you play the Chiefs next Sunday,"

"Awesome!" Rachel said, very pleased. Her favorite team, the Oakland Raiders, had been one of the worst teams in the NFL for a few years, but they had made some recent changes and it seemed to be for the better. The last time they did this well, they went to the Super Bowl.

After another hour, everyone went to bed. The rest of Christmas break consisted of the same things: strategizing about football, talking about classes, and joking around. Finally, the day came when she had to return to Hogwarts. Rachel had more things to bring, since she went shopping for her friends' birthdays.

"Be good, learn lots," her mom said, and with that, she was gone and Rachel was suddenly in the Gryffindor common room.

"Rachel!" came four voices. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were already there, waiting for her arrival.

"Hi!" She gave them all hugs. "Did you have a good holiday?"

"Yeah," they chorused.

She unpacked her things, and then went exploring with James and Sirius; Peter and Remus had a little last minute homework that they had forgotten about. They spent a good deal of the day exploring the castle, even finding a secret passage on the fourth floor. James and Rachel found out that Sirius already had a girlfriend: a Hufflepuff first year named Ashley Rhodes. They started making fun of him, and immediately told Remus and Peter about it when they went down to the Great Hall, and those two also joined in on the fun.

Rachel met up with Lily later that night, just before they went to bed, but not before talking about their Christmas breaks, and how they didn't want classes to start tomorrow. Even though she would miss her family, Rachel was happy to be back at Hogwarts.

Class seemed to go much faster during the second half than during the first half. They had a lot more homework and studying to do since their exams were coming up, they didn't have near as much free time and Remus kept mysteriously disappearing once a month for a couple of times, always looking sick after coming back.

"Why were you gone again, Remus?" Rachel asked him one time in the midst of studying.

"Oh—I, um—had to visit my mother, she was really sick," he said, but Rachel didn't believe a word of it. Rachel didn't have any time to do anymore digging, and soon, the exams were upon them. Rachel had slight difficulty creating a Shrinking potion, but had no trouble transfiguring a box of matches into a box of needles or levitating objects. But Defense Against the Dark Arts was the easiest exam, in Rachel's opinion. Professor Dills only had them answer twenty questions. Since that was the last exam, Rachel, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had a few days of leisurely activity. They showed the secret passage to Remus and Peter, Sirius broke up with his girlfriend, and James had started taking an interest a certain redhead.

"You like Lily?" she asked James.

"Well, not—well—kind of," he said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"You so do," Sirius said, grinning.

"Whatever," he mumbled.

Suddenly, it was the last day of their first year.

"You all had better write this summer," Rachel told them, giving them all big hugs.

"We will," Sirius said.

"Well," she said, getting off the Hogwarts Express with them and then seeing her family, "I'll talk to you later."

And with a wave, Rachel left with her family, already looking forward to the next year.


	4. Chapter 4

Rachel Delancy was a normal twelve year old girl, except for the fact that she was a witch, and she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For most of her life, she lived as a non-magic person, while knowing that her mother was also a witch and her brother a wizard.

During the summer, Rachel spent almost everyday with her best friend, Lily Evans, who also attended Hogwarts, but also lived next door to her family. She also received many letters from her other best friends: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. She had met the four of them on the first day and they were rapidly becoming the most popular people in the entire school, known for their brains but also their ability to prank.

Last year, Remus had mysteriously disappeared once a month for a couple of days, and returned sickly looking. He kept making excuses, but Rachel no longer believed him. She did some research and came to a shocking conclusion. When she wrote to Sirius about it, he agreed that it could very easily be the problem, but was afraid to ask him about it. Rachel believed that Remus was a werewolf, since he always disappeared once a month when it was a full moon, then came back very pale.

Earlier this summer, Rachel and her professional dance partner, Drew, had performed fabulously in their first ballroom competition, earning them first place for their Rumba and Jive. Lily, who was almost always the first person to see a new routine, and Sirius had been able to attend, but the others had not been able to. Victoria and David, Rachel's parents, grew to like Sirius and kept poking fun at Rachel by saying that they should date, an idea that she dismissed very quickly.

The next day, Rachel informed Lily of this little event, causing Lily to be appalled and amused at the same time, mostly because of Rachel's blushing at the mention of Sirius.

"He's so mean and inconsiderate!" Lily had exclaimed through her laughing.

"You just don't like him because he and James like to prank Snape!" Rachel retorted.

Over the summer, Rachel had received a midnight blue iPod nano to take to Hogwarts as an early birthday present, but she was also supposed to practice her routines for her next competition. This year, though, her black and white owl, Pepper, became the family owl so Rachel wasn't bringing the owl with her.

Rachel was very excited on September 1st, the day that she was to leave for Hogwarts. She had bought her new books a couple of weeks ago, with Lily, and together, their families drove to King's Cross station, and entered onto platform 9 ¾ where the Hogwarts Express left from. After saying their goodbyes, Rachel went on the train to look for her friends, while Lily went to look for her other best friend, Severus Snape. In the very last compartment, Rachel found her best friends.

"Hi everyone," she greeted them.

"Hi, Rachel," they said back, and once again, Sirius helped her secure her luggage unnecessarily. She thanked him for it, then sat down between him and James, giving them hugs.

"Have you heard about all the stuff that Voldemort's doing?" Rachel asked them as the train started off.

"Yeah," said Remus, getting a grim look on his face. "If he keeps this up, he's going to be the Darkest wizard in history,"

"Apparently, Dumbledore's started this organization that's secretly is fighting against him; my mom's in it," Rachel told them.

"There's no way my family would ever go against Voldemort," Sirius said with a scowl. "They think he's one of the greatest things to come along in a very long time,"

"Yeah, well, your family's evil," James assured him.

"Oh, by the way," said Remus, determined to get off the current subject, "congratulations on your win, Rachel,"

"Thanks," she told them, then got out her iPod. "My parents gave it to me, so I can practice my routines." Seeing the confused looks on their faces, Rachel continued. "This is an iPod, and it carries music, games, and video. The great part of it is that it's small so you can take it wherever you go."

"That's awesome!" said Peter in a squeaky voice.

"Can we listen to it?" James asked.

"Sure, just be careful with it," she said, hesitantly. She was very fond of her iPod, but trusted them. "And make sure you share," she added.

During the rest of the trip, they ate candy, the boys listened to the iPod, and they changed into their robes, and, of course, talked about hexes they could perform on Snape. They became particularly fond of a head inflating hex, which James and Sirius vowed to practice before the end of the week.

"Oh, Rach, have you told Sirius what your parents kept telling you?" Peter asked.

Rachel looked alarmed and gave Peter a look before Sirius turned to her and said, "What don't I know?"

"Um, well, they—they, um," Rachel stuttered. "Peter, will you just tell him to help spare me some embarrassment,"

"What's going on, you guys?" Remus asked, looking amused.

"Rachel's parents want Rachel to go out with Sirius," Peter told them, laughing.

"Are you _serious?_" James asked.

"No, she's not Sirius, _I'm_ Sirius," Sirius joked.

"Oh no, not the Sirius jokes," Remus groaned.

"Anyway, Rach, your parents want you to go out with Sirius?" James asked, trying to stifle his laughing.

"Yeah," she answered, hiding her face in her hands.

"So," Peter said, looking like he was expecting some information.

"So what?"

"So, what do you think?" James asked, grinning.

"Me . . . dating Sirius?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yeah," said Remus, also grinning.

"Well, not right now," she said, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"_What?_" Sirius said. "Who wouldn't want to date me?"

"Someone with a brain," James answered. Rachel, Remus, and Peter roared with laughter.

"I'm surprised that someone can resist these beautiful grey eyes," he explained, looking Rachel in the eye.

"I'm still on no,"

"Fine, your loss," he told her, earning him a push from Rachel.

After this interesting conversation, it was silent in the compartment, until the train came to a complete stop.

"Thank goodness, I'm starving," James said, obviously trying to break the quiet and they grabbed their bulky luggage and maneuvered into the hall of the train, now full of students.

"Me too," Remus agreed.

When they finally got out of the extremely crowded train, they followed the larger group of older kids towards black carriages. The five of them got into one and it took off by its own accord.

"Why's it moving? There's nothing pulling it," Peter said.

"Ah, my dear Peter, there is so much you have to learn," said Sirius in a mystic voice.

"They are pulled by thestrals, some creature that can only be seen by people who have seen death," said James in the same mystic voice.

"Wow, how did you know that?" Peter asked, amazed.

"We read it in a book somewhere," James answered.

The carriage stopped in front of Hogwarts, where other students were piling out of their own carriages. Rachel, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter followed suit. They dropped their baggage off in the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall, to watch their first sorting. They took their seats in the middle of the Gryffindor table, sitting by Lily.

Professor McGonagall came in a few minutes later, making the once noisy noise to a complete silence. A group of twenty or so timid and scared looking first years came in.

"I hope we didn't look that scared last year," Rachel whispered to them, and they nodded.

"Bates, Melissa." came McGonagall's stern voice.

A girl with curly black hair walked forward, almost tripping on the stairs, up to the sorting hat and was sorted into Ravenclaw, as were the next two kids. By the end of the sorting, Gryffindor had received ten new students, Ravenclaw got five, Hufflepuff got three, and Slytherin got two. It seemed apparent that the number of young witches and wizards was decreasing, but they expected a large group coming in the next couple of years.

Professor Dumbledore stood up from the middle of the staff table, and started his announcements:

"Welcome, everyone, to a new year at Hogwarts! I would like to start with the usual announcement that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students, as some of you may know already," and he winked towards the Gryffindors. James, Sirius, and Peter were caught exploring the Forest last year and received a week's worth of detentions.

"Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would like to remind you to not sneak around after hours and no dueling in the halls. Hagrid, our gamekeeper, also asks that students refrain from spitting their gum onto the field or stands.

"Now, I direct this message to the Gryffindors. There are openings for a Chaser and Seeker on the Quidditch team. For those of you who are interested in trying out, please leave your name with Professor McGonagall, and she will pass the list on to the Captain, who will announce when tryouts are. But for now, enjoy the feast!"

The many tables filled up completely with many dishes, drinks, and desserts.

Rachel decided to have a chicken salad (due to the new diet she was following for her dance), but splurged during dessert by having a large piece of cheesecake. The boys, mainly James and Sirius, ate like pigs, during which Rachel and Remus gave them disgusted looks.

"That's really disgusting," he whispered to her, while James and Sirius shoved their mouths with chicken and rice.

"Totally," she agreed, looking slightly sickened.

Another hour later, after everyone had finished their last bites of desserts, the tables cleared up and Dumbledore dismissed them all to their dormitories. Rachel, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all chatted rapidly, all glad that the tension between Sirius and Rachel was gone.

"Password?" the fat lady asked when they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Fortuna major," Remus said, adding, "A prefect told me downstairs," after the fat lady allowed them entrance. The five went up to the boy's dormitory, where Rachel sat on James's bed, surprisingly, instead of Sirius's, for their usual nightly chat. They assumed this was because of the train situation.

"Anyone here going to try out for the team?" James asked the room.

"I'm gonna try out for Seeker since I've been practicing in my free time over the summer," replied Rachel. "What about you?"

"I'm going for Chaser," he said, nodding his head. "Are you going to try out, Sirius?"

"Probably not, but I'm sure we'll come down to give you two moral support," Sirius told them.

"Awesome. I'll tell McGonagall to put our names down on the list tomorrow," Rachel informed James.

"Cool,"

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep. Have a good night, see you in the morning," and with a wave towards them at the door, she left to go across the hall to the girl's dormitory, which only she and Lily shared, due to the small number of Gryffindor first years last year. Rachel walked over to her bed, without even changing, and said, "Hey, Lils,"

"Hi, Rach," she replied back. "Are you trying out for Quidditch?"

"Of course," Rachel replied smiling at her other best friend, "I guess you're not going to?"

"No, I'm going to focus on my studies; I don't want Quidditch practice interfering with it,"

With a yawn, Lily turned out the light and said, "Night, Rach,"

"Night, Lily," and not even a minute later, they were both out.

When Rachel woke up in the morning, she was completely surprised to see Lily still sleeping and assumed that it must be early than normal. She looked at the clock that read 6:07am; Rachel was up an hour earlier than Lily, but decided to get up anyway. During her daily routine of showering, getting dressed, and brushing her hair and teeth, Rachel though of the odd conversation that they had experience yesterday on the train; Rachel had had fleeting thoughts of a relationship with Sirius during her parents' jokes, but agreed that it would be for the best if they stayed friends, considering that Sirius was quite the player, and had already had three girlfriends in the last year. In fact, Rachel became so immersed in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Lily waking up an hour later until someone close to her face said, "Hello, earth to Rachel, are you awake in there?" poking her head.

Rachel jumped. "Oh, good morning, Lily,"

"What was that all about? You were completely in la-la land,"

"Nothing, just thinking," Rachel told her and luckily Lily dropped the subject. She didn't want to think about what her friends would say if she admitted to fleeting thoughts of her going out with Sirius. "I'm going down for breakfast, I'll see you later," Rachel called to Lily through the bathroom door, which was closed due to the fact that Lily was using it.

Rachel went down to the common room and was startled by the four guys sitting by the fire, talking with their heads close together. When they saw her coming down the stairs, the abruptly stopped, and greeted her. Rachel sat down on the couch next to Remus, then turned toward him.

"Remus, can I ask you something? And you promise to be honest?"

"Of course," he promised.

"Well, um, I was wondering, if you were, possibly a—werewolf?" Rachel asked, her voice faltering slightly at the end.


	5. Chapter 5

Remus' face drained of color.

"What makes you—s-say that?"

"Well, it's just that you're gone once a month and it always coincides with the full moon, and that's the only theory that makes sense to me. . . . I'm sorry I asked, it was really rude of me,"

"No, Rachel, it's okay. Well, if you must know, I am, in fact, a werewolf. You know the Whomping Willow by Hogsmeade?" they all nodded, "Well, every time its full moon, Madam Pomfrey takes me to the Willow and uses a spell that paralyzes it, and I hide in that old house during my transformations. . . . Please don't tell anyone," he pleaded.

"No, of course, we swear we won't tell anyone," Sirius reassured him.

"So, how long have you been one?" Peter asked.

"Since I was seven. I got bitten when I was younger,"

"Wow," James and Rachel said together.

There was a long moment of awkward silence before Sirius said, "Let's get some breakfast and Rachel can talk to McGonagall."

With that, they went down to the Great Hall. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter took their usual seats while Rachel went to the staff table to talk to McGonagall. She was up there for a minute, then McGonagall nodded and Rachel went to the table and sat in her usual seat, between James and Sirius.

"You guys should use that hex on Snape this morning," she said.

"Yeah, that's a good way to start the year, with detention," Remus said with obvious sarcasm.

After eating, though, James and Sirius managed to hex Snape and his head grew twice as big, causing all of them to roar out in laughter. James and Sirius earned a detention but were very pleased with the work they did, and told the others about it on the way to class.

"You know, that was really funny," Remus said.

"You guys are really good," Peter said with enthusiasm.

"We better be careful in case Peter wets his pants," James joked.

Peter blushed slightly.

"Although, I have to say, that hex did not agree with him. Snape's greasy head . . . swelling to twice its size, that's not a pretty picture,"

"Ugh, yeah, you're definitely right about that," Sirius agreed.

During the rest of the day, they talked about the hexes and jinxes they had used on Snape that day and even ran into him after lunch.

"Hey there, _Snivellus_," James said.

"Potter," Snape said coldly.

"Thank goodness they got your head fixed," Sirius said in a mock worried voice.

"Yeah, we didn't need to see your greasy face all swollen and crap," Rachel said, with a disgusted look.

Remus and Peter slowly backed away, hoping to avoid being hexed or getting detention.

Before Rachel, James, or Sirius could get their wands out, Snape had already pulled his out and shouted, "_Delado!"_

The hex had hit Rachel. It had taped her mouth shut and she couldn't see, so she assumed that her eyelids had been taped down as well. Not only that, but the force of it had knocked her off her feet and into a wall and she felt really light-headed but her head was throbbing madly. She heard Sirius and James yelling at Snape.

"You can hex us, just not our girl," James was saying.

"Yeah, _Petrificus Totalus!"_ Sirius shouted.

There was a thud indicating that Snape had been paralyzed and fallen to the ground.

"Rach, are you okay? Open your eyes," Remus said right next to her.

Considering that she couldn't talk and her throbbing head felt more painful by the second, she used gestures showing them that she couldn't open her eyes or talk.

"Rach, you can't talk?" Sirius asked, worriedly. He sounded like he was right beside her. She shook her head frantically.

"Come on, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey," James said.

The guys pulled her up off of her feet. The second they let go of her, she almost fell back over from lightheadedness. She felt two pairs of hands catch her. One of them put an arm around her shoulder and the other put an arm around her waist.

"It's okay, Rach, we've got you," she heard Sirius say comfortingly.

Even though she had two guys holding her up, she kept swaying and barely felt like she could put one foot in front of the other. They stopped for a minute and she could hear the four guys talking.

"Do you think one of us should carry her?" Sirius asked.

"She's swaying a lot," Remus said.

"Well, I don't think it's a bad idea," Peter told them.

"Yeah, we really don't want her to collapse," said James.

"I'll carry her," Sirius volunteered. "Rach, I'm going to carry you; you're not very steady on your feet,"

All Rachel could do was nod, and once again the fleeting thoughts of her and Sirius flipped into her head as Sirius picked her up quite gently and carried her off to the hospital wing. Rachel could hear the other three walking behind them. Suddenly a door opened and she heard the voice of Madam Pomfrey say, "What's going on?"

"Snape hit her with a curse and she can't open her eyes or talk, and also, the curse made her fly into a wall and she can't walk very well now." Sirius told her.

"Okay, bring her to the furthest bed on the right, I'll check her out. You lot can stay if you want," she added.

Someone opened a door and Sirius started forward again. In a matter of seconds, she was laying down on a comfortable bed. She felt someone standing by the bed, looking down at her.

"Yes, yes, this is definitely a Gluing Hex, usually goes for the eyes and mouth," Madam Pomfrey told them. "If we dab a bit of this on those parts, they should be able to open within a minute or two,"

Rachel felt someone dab something gooey on her lips and then on each of her eyes. She attempted to open her lips and was successful and then opened both of her eyes. The first thing she saw was Sirius standing behind Madam Pomfrey, looking relieved that one part of the problem was corrected. Somewhere by him stood James, Remus, and Peter.

"What else is wrong, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked her.

"My head is throbbing like mad and I could barely stand, let alone walk."

"Okay," and Madam Pomfrey went off to look at her head. "Yeah, there's definitely a bump here and it's showing signs of minor bleeding in the brain. That must've been one heck of hit,"

"Are you able to fix it?"

"Of course, but I want you to stay for a couple of nights, just to make sure that the bleeding didn't build up or appear deeper than right now. Here, drink this,"

Rachel felt a small bottle in her hand and looked at it. It was a vial with green liquid in it; Rachel uncorked it and swallowed it in one. It slightly burned going down her throat but almost immediately felt the throbbing die away.

"Better?"

"Yeah, loads,"

"Okay, now you need rest, so change into this nightgown and get in bed,"

She put up a screen and Rachel quickly changed and got under the covers. The screen was taken away and she was left the four guys.

"What classes are left today?" she asked them.

"Um, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Remus answered.

"Well, will you guys bring me any homework that I miss the next couple of days?"

"Yeah, sure," Peter said.

"Thanks, now go to class, you guys. No, Sirius," she said when he started to protest. "Go to class. I'll be fine, you guys can visit me later, okay?"

"Okay," said Peter.

"Get better, Rach," said James, grasping her hand and then he left the hospital wing with Peter, with Remus following right behind them. Just as Sirius turned to go, Rachel said,

"Sirius?"

"Yeah," he said, turning towards her. She beckoned him closer and said,

"Thanks for your help,"

"Anytime, Rach," he said, then gave her a long hug and also left for class, leaving Rachel alone with her thoughts and dreams, which were oddly filled with Sirius. . . .

The next time she had woken up, it was nighttime, but Rachel guessed that it was still before curfew due to the fact that the four guys were all sitting around her bed, doing their homework.

"Well, glad to see you didn't forget me," she mumbled. Rachel always had a hard time waking up.

"Good to see you up," Remus said, smiling.

"Yeah, it was probably my amazing good looks that woke her up," Sirius said, grinning.

"It was probably your overwhelming charm and ego that did the trick," she replied, bursting into laughter. For this comment, she received a pillow to her face, which she chucked back at him unexpectedly.

"Well, we know she's feeling better, since she's still got her humor," James said, smiling.

"You know what, I had the funniest dream. We had secretly jinxed Snape with a bottle of shampoo that kept trying to wash his hair," Rachel informed them.

"That would be hilarious!" Peter said.

"Or maybe we could paint on the back of his robes saying 'I love McGonagall,'" Sirius suggested.

"Both sound good to me," James told them.

"Anyway, on a different subject, we had to write a paper about witch burnings in the early 18th century for History of Magic," Remus told her.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Well, we were supposed to draw a diagram of a Bumbleplant, but since you were gone, you got excused from it," Remus answered.

"Okay, I can handle that; can I use someone's book, notebook, and a pencil?" Rachel said.

"Sure, I'm done with it," Sirius offered, and he handed her the needed things.

"So, James, have you asked out Lily yet?" Rachel asked him, while writing her paper.

"Yeah, but she told me to buzz off, so I took that as a 'no'," he answered with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Don't worry, James, she'll come around," Peter reassured him.

"Yeah," he said, grumpily.

"Do you want me to talk to her? You know, she still considers me her best friend," Rachel said.

"No, it's fine,"

Rachel kept writing and the next piece of information brought her completely to her senses.

"Sirius already has girlfriend," Peter said, sniggering.

"I thought he had one at the end of the year," she said, slightly thrown off.

"Well, she—she kind of started shouting at me earlier before class because she saw me carrying you here and thought that we were going out now," Sirius said awkwardly.

"How many other people think that?" Rachel asked, a little sharper than she intended.

"Well, it was spreading like wildfire, but we think we've stopped it," Remus told her.

"Well, Sirius, you sure go threw girls fast," Rachel said, grinning, "this is your fourth one already, right?"

Sirius turned slightly pink and chose not to answer.

About an hour later, Rachel finished her paper, gave it to Remus to turn in for her, returned the stuff to Sirius, and then told them to go to bed and come visit her tomorrow after classes. In a matter of minutes, Rachel was once again asleep.

The blinding sun woke Rachel up the next morning and she was surprisingly awake. Although, she wasn't completely back to her senses because she jumped when someone said, "Good morning, Rach,"

She looked over to see James, his hair still messy (which, I guess, was normal) and his hazel eyes watching her.

"Hi . . . what are you doing here?"

"Well," he said. "I was hoping you'd wake up soon, since classes are going to start in a few minutes, but I wanted to tell you that Quidditch tryouts are this Friday, and also, your parents sent your Firebolt,"

"What do you mean? I don't own a Firebolt," she informed him.

"Well," James replied, grinning, "you do now,"

Rachel jolted up straight. Excitement and joy filled her rapidly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, there's _no_ way I'd ever joke about this," he said, hugging her. "Can I have a go on it on Friday?"

"Sure, no problem,"

James looked at his watch.

"Well, I'd better go to classes. I'll see you later, Rach."

"Tell the guys I say 'hi!'" she called to him as he left the infirmary. Not even a minute later, Madam Pomfrey came in to do her promised morning checkup.

"How are you feeling?" she asked while taking Rachel's pulse.

"I feel great, a lot better than yesterday," Rachel answered.

"I think," Madam Pomfrey said, while observing Rachel's head injury, "that you should be able to go later this evening, probably soon before dinner,"

"Great!" Rachel said, giving Madam Pomfrey a smile, which got returned, and Madam Pomfrey left the room, leaving Rachel alone, once again.

Rachel, indeed, left just a few minutes before dinner, and joined up with her best friends, who were ecstatic to see her there. Later on, they had confirmed that Rachel had been sent a Firebolt, the best broom in the world, for her upcoming tryouts, which came much sooner than she had expected. Before she knew it, she, with her Firebolt, and James, with his Nimbus 2001, were heading down to the Quidditch Pitch, the others promising to be there shortly.

When they reached the field, they saw very few people there. They walked up to the captain, Jordan Brown, and asked if this was going to be it.

"Yep," Jordan replied in his deep voice, "There's two people, including you," pointing to Rachel, "trying out for Seeker, the other five are trying out for Chaser with you, James,"

They walked away towards the other people. Rachel noticed that many of them were just a year or so older and this made her feel a little more confident, though her insides were still squirming with nerves. Before she could ask James if he was feeling the same way, Jordan had moved to the front of the tiny group.

"We will be doing Chaser tryouts first. You will each do one lap around the pitch, then we will have you will have five shots against our Keeper, Martin Benson—" Jordan pointed at one of the other players dressed in maroon uniforms. Martin was tall and gangly looking, with thick blonde hair—"And then once we have our new Chaser, we will all take positions on the field, and the first of our Seeker tryouts that catches the Snitch gets the position. Everyone clear on the procedure?" Everyone nodded their heads. "Good, everyone, even the Seekers, do one lap around the field,"

James and Rachel mounted their brooms along with everyone else. Rachel looked up in the stands to see many people, friends of the others, sitting up there, and instantly spotted Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, mainly because of Sirius due to the fact that all the girls, even the seventh year ones, were staring dreamily at him, except for Lily, who was watching the tryouts. Another second later, Rachel and James were the first ones to be in the air and took off around the field together.

Being up on the Firebolt made Rachel's anxieties disappear instantly; it was like practicing over the summer. The wind felt great in her long, rich brown hair with auburn and blonde streaks, and she didn't have a care in the world. Soon, she was once again on the ground, along with James, watching the others make their way around. Within five minutes, everyone else had successfully landed on the ground. Jordan yelled out, "Chasers, out onto the field!"

"Good luck," Rachel told James as he walked among the tiny group making their way towards the middle. Rachel looked around to find her competition: it was a girl, probably a third year, with gorgeous black hair and tan skin. She was skinny like Rachel and about as tall as Rachel. _So_, Rachel thought to herself, _this is going to come down to skills,_

Turning back to the field, she saw the first tryout, which was absolutely horrible, and was lucky that it wasn't James. The other four had been just as bad and James's chances seemed to be very high. In fact, he scored one, two, three, four, _five_ goals. He flew back down to the ground, quickly acknowledging their clapping friends, except for Lily, who was looking at him with a fierce look on her face, and ran over to give Rachel a hug.

"Congratulations!" she squealed. "You were fantastic!"

"Thanks!" James was beaming with joy. "Good luck, I hope you get it," and then he joined the team.

"Everyone get into your positions!" Jordan yelled, and Rachel and the black-hair girl flew into the air, taking their positions along with the team. Jordan released the balls into the air and a minute later, blew the whistle, indicating that the Seekers were to start their tryouts. Rachel kicked up from the ground and flew high, hoping to see the Snitch from this point. The other girl went down to the opposite side of the field. Deciding that being closer was a better idea, Rachel came down a little bit and started circling the field, looking for any glint of gold.

Ten minutes later, neither of the girls had seen the Snitch, and Rachel was getting slightly impatient. She kept circling the field, slowing her speed, and that's when she saw it: down by closer hoops close to the ground. Rachel went into a dive, going as fast as her broom would allow her, and the other girl followed suit. Rachel was the faster and she was closing in . . . she took one hand off her broom and grabbed the Snitch, which was vigorously trying to release itself from her clutches. She flew around with her hand in the air, still holding the struggling Snitch, and Jordan blew his whistle. Both of the girls landed and shook hands. The other girl left the pitch and Rachel was left with the team.

"First practice is Monday night at 6:30pm. Good tryouts today," and he and the rest of the team went towards the exit. Once off of the pitch, James high-fived her and before she could react, Lily had run over to her and gave her a congratulatory hug. Soon, though, Lily had left for Gryffindor tower to do some studying for an upcoming quiz. Sirius, Remus, and Peter took turns giving hugs to James and Rachel.

"You guys were both amazing!" Peter said, looking at them both with admiration.

The next few hours, James and Rachel were congratulated by everyone in Gryffindor. During the next few weeks, practices went absolutely smooth and Gryffindor had flattened Slytherin and Hufflepuff in Quidditch matches. Soon, Christmas break had come again and Sirius was going to be staying with Rachel at her parents' house, much to Lily's delight. Nothing more eventful happened during that time, but she had noticed her mom going to meetings and one time, Dumbledore had even arrived at her house, at night, and Rachel had snuck downstairs to eavesdrop on them; what she heard completely chilled her.

"So you're saying that Voldemort is coming after Rachel?" she heard her father ask in fear.

"We do not know for sure, but yes, it is possible," Dumbledore said solemnly.

"How can we know for sure?" Victoria asked.

"I've got a feeling that there will be a clear-cut sign in the next couple of years, and we will recognize it once it shows itself. But for now, I must head back to Hogwarts. And don't worry, she'll be perfectly safe there,"

Rachel walked numbly up to her bedroom and collapsed on it, her brain seemed to be working very slowly and could hardly take in the information she had just overheard. The very thought of Voldemort, the darkest wizard _ever_, coming after her sent fear and worry down her spine, overpowering every other feeling she had. She forced herself to think that it might not be her and because of that, she was able to sleep soundly again.

As they arrived back at Hogwarts, Rachel had not informed anyone, not even her best friends, about what worried her so. Though these worries quickly vanished, due to the fact that Jordan was working the team harder and harder in order to prepare for the Quidditch Cup final and her teachers were giving her more homework than ever. However, the end of the year proved to be absolutely perfect because Gryffindor had crushed Ravenclaw in the finals and she had soared through her exams. There was some excitement during the final week of the year: future third-years were able to choose another two classes they wished to take. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures while Rachel was taking Arithmancy, since math was her strongest point during school, and Divination. After turning in their forms, Rachel decided to poke some fun at Sirius to end the year.

"So, is your girlfriend taking those classes? This is what, your tenth one already?" James, Remus, and Peter started laughing.

"No, she's taking other things, and she is not my girlfriend anymore. I'm surprised, though," Sirius came back. "That you haven't been through any boyfriends, considering that most of them sit there, staring at you,"

"Yeah, just like every single girl, except for Lily, stares at _you,_"

"Are you saying you stare at me?" Sirius said suggestively and Rachel shoved him in retaliation.

"You wish,"

Surprisingly, Sirius got a pink tinge and the other boys started laughing their heads off. Rachel was slightly confused by this but soon forgot about it. They chatted on the entire way back to Kings Cross and promised each other that they'd write, and Rachel left with her family, feeling happier than she had felt in a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

Rachel woke up on the day of September 1st and did the thing she had done every day when she had woken up since the summer holidays had begun: she looked at her three national championship first prize ballroom competition trophies and her mini Quidditch Cup, reminiscing on the happy times when she had won those prizes. Suddenly remembering that today was the day that she returned to Hogwarts, her favorite place in the world, and that she would be seeing her other best friends: James Potter, with messy black hair hazel eyes, and slightly taller than Rachel; Sirius Black, the one who she was closest to, with his carelessly handsome look and beautiful grey eyes that enchanted almost any girl that looked into them; Remus Lupin, who was as tall as James and had sandy blonde hair, not to mention that he was a werewolf and snuck off to the Shrieking Shack that was on the edge of the Wizarding village, Hogsmeade, once a month; and finally Peter Pettigrew, who was quite short, kind of dumb, and practically worshipped her, James, and Sirius. Not only that, but she would be able to visit Hogsmeade on scheduled weekends, and everyone who had gone there had always enjoyed themselves so much.

Rachel, now excited, jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans from her new favorite Muggle clothing store in the country, threw on a white tank-top with lace on the top and bottom, a dark blue t-shirt that and threw on a pair of shoes before brushing her hair and teeth. Five minutes later, Rachel started to pack her new schoolbooks into her suitcase along with her other necessary things. Rachel glanced at her white alarm clock and realized that maybe it was a good thing that she was hurrying: it was 10:15am and the train took off at 11:00am and it took fifteen minutes to get there. She threw the rest of her stuff into her suitcase, grabbed her Firebolt, and rushed downstairs to the kitchen, where her family always sat, every morning eating breakfast, but on this particular day, the kitchen was always in a bit of a rush. This was the day that they always went shopping for her wizard brother, Daniel, because he was going off to his fifth year at another Wizarding school, Duffletown. Tommy was like a miniature version of her father, David. Her two younger sisters, Danielle and Angela, could've passed as twins, but they were a year apart in age. Danielle was five and Angela was six and they had blonde hair and somehow inherited brown eyes, which no one in the family had. Everyone either had a shade of blue, hazel, or green.

They all said good morning to each other without looking up and started to head for the car, everyone grabbing a piece of toast on the way. David put Rachel's suitcase in the trunk and got into the driver's seat, Victoria in the passenger's seat, and the kids got into the back. David started the car and they drove down the road and went to the interstate. Lily and her family followed in their car.

"So, Rachel, what do you think about possibly getting your Driver's Permit when you get back from school this year?" David asked her.

Rachel was shocked. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind but the idea excited her.

"Are you serious? Of course I'd love to!" she exclaimed. She turned to her brother, who was like her family best friend and whose death would hit her hardest when that day came. Tommy had already passed her Driver's test and would soon be going for his license. "Is it hard?"

"No," waving his hand in the air as if it was the simplest thing. "It's really easy. All you do if drive by, like, five minutes and if you don't do anything stupid, you pass,"

"Good," she said as they pulled into a parking spot outside of the train station.

They all piled out of the car, Rachel grabbed her things, and they went to Platform 9 ¾ where the Hogwarts Express took off. On the platform, Rachel said her good-byes and went onto the train to look for four of her best friends and favorite people. She told Lily that she'd see her at school and Lily went off to find one of her best friends and also Rachel and her friends' rival, Severus Snape. Rachel went to the end of the train where they usually sat and was not surprised at all to see James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter chatting away rapidly and they were ecstatic to see her again. Rachel secured her luggage above their seats and took her usual spot between James and Sirius, giving each of them a hug.

"So, you ready for another Quidditch Cup this year?" James asked her, grinning.

"You know it," she said with a sassy voice. She had changed a bit over the summer and was a lot more like a teenage girl. Her hair had also gotten a little blonder, but she still had the thick, luscious brown hair that most girls envied. She had also started to receive the girly attitude that she now adored.

"So, what's new with you?" Sirius asked, flashing a smile that, even though she thought of him as a friend and a friend only, made her heart skip a beat.

"Not much, I got another first place in the competition in Los Angeles," she said, shrugging. She never liked to brag about her talent on the dance floor.

"We heard, congrats," Remus said, nodding his head.

"So, you're all able to go to Hogsmeade, right?"

"Yep," the boys said as one.

"Good," she replied, feeling relieved.

"Yeah, and while we're there, we can sneak around and find some secret passageways from there to the castle because my dad told me that there were a couple but wouldn't tell me where."

"But how can we sneak around? They'll be keeping a careful eye on us,"

"Well, first thing's first, my dad gave me his Invisibility Cloak," James explained.

"And second," Sirius stated, as though he had read James's mind, "why would they keep a better eye on us than everyone else?"

Rachel panicked. She had not told anyone what she had overheard last year during Christmas break, when Dumbledore had told her parents that Lord Voldemort, the Darkest wizard ever, might be coming after Rachel, and she knew for a fact that teachers would be keeping a close eye on her at the village. Quickly, she came up with an excuse.

"Well, you know, because we, meaning you and James, are the official troublemakers of the school,"

"True," said James, "that makes sense."

The train took off from the platform and they sat there, chatting and planning pranks to play on their favorite victim, Snivellus AKA Severus Snape. James informed Rachel that he, Sirius, and Remus had met up a couple of times during the summer and learned how to make words appear on someone's back without them noticing, which delighted Rachel immensely, for she and Sirius had come up with an idea like that last year when she had been in the hospital wing.

The time flew by them, and soon they were shoving their way into the crowded hall of the train. After many minutes later and somehow avoiding getting shoved over onto someone, the five of them had gotten out of the train and into a horseless carriage, away from the claustrophobic area, and the carriage pulled them towards the gigantic and magnificent castle known as Hogwarts.

The carriage stopped outside of the front doors and they got out from the carriage and into the castle, dropping off their luggage in the entrance hall, where it would be taken up to their dormitories. The five of them, still chatting away, made their way to the Great Hall and took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table and minutes later Lily joined them. Lily wasn't friends with James, Sirius, or Peter, but she got along with Remus and she had been best friends with Rachel since they were little girls.

Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, made her way to the front, followed by another group of timid and frightened looking first years, and they all stopped before the tiny staircase which led to the staff table and in front of the staff table sat the Sorting Hat on top of a stool.

The Sorting Hat sorted into Gryffindor fourteen people, Hufflepuff received ten, Ravenclaw got twelve people, and Slytherin received eighteen. Dumbledore then did his usual speech about the rules and the Forest and then the table filled up with many plates of food and many drinks.

They ate until they could eat no more, drank until they were satisfied, and talked to other people that they knew until Dumbledore dismissed them to their dormitories. They went up to the seventh floor, entered the tower, and they had their nightly chat in the boy's dormitory, where Rachel once again sat on Sirius's bed. Last year, due to an awkward conversation on the train ride, they had felt weird around each other until Snape had hexed her and she was forced to be carried to the hospital wing by Sirius.

She bade them good night, went to her dormitory, changed into her pajamas, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning at breakfast, she had gotten some entertainment by seeing Snape walk in with the words 'I love McGonagall' on his robes in a sparkling pink, apparently unaware of it, and complemented them on their superb jinxing skills.

"Hey Snape," some random person yelled during breakfast. "How long have you and McGonagall had something?"

Snape replied with a confused look on his face.

"Nice robes, Snape," a Hufflepuff added.

Once he realized what was going on, Snape's face flushed red with anger as he sent death glares towards the Gryffindors, specifically James and Sirius. Then he went running off to the Slytherin dorms to change into different robes.

The rest of their day, as well as the next few weeks went extremely well. Rachel found Arithmancy and Divination quite simple as was breezing right through it, along with her other classes. The others were feeling the same way, with the exception of Peter, who always needed a bit of help. During their free time, Rachel, James, and Sirius went to the library to work on a project that would greatly help Remus during his transformations.

Their first trip into Hogsmeade had been the weekend before Rachel's birthday, and they celebrated by going into the Three Broomsticks, and had butterbeers, one of the best tasting drinks that Rachel had ever tasted. They went into Zonko's Joke Shop, into Honeydukes' Sweet Shop, and then went back to the castle.

James and Rachel were busier than ever, due to the fact that Jordan, the Quidditch Captain, was training them harder and more often than the year before, determined to keep the Cup in Gryffindor's possession.

By the time that Christmas break had arrived, James and Sirius had received quite a few detentions due to their constant pranking of Snape or other Slytherins. Sirius had gone through another two girlfriends and was becoming the biggest player of the school, though almost every girl in the school didn't mind being one of his girls. Sirius, according to many of the girls, was becoming more and more handsome and charming by the day. The rest of them like to poke fun at Sirius because of it, but he just said that it was true, usually earning him a couple of pushes or pillows in his face.

Rachel had gone home for the holidays. Her parents were really busy, for some reason, so Rachel spent a vast majority of her time with her brother, who was surprisingly protective of her, and said that the moment Rachel got a boyfriend that he, Tommy, would have to evaluate him, which made Rachel laugh.

As a surprise, her professional dance partner, Drew, had dropped by for a visit. They did practice a couple of new routines, but Rachel was still pleased to see him. Drew knew about Rachel and her family being magical and he didn't care one bit, which she appreciated greatly.

"Excellent," he told her after repeating their routine on Christmas Eve. "With a couple more practices, we should be getting another championship,"

"Great, I agree," she said with a smile and wiped some of the sweat of off her forehead. "Did you know that some people are already betting on us winning again?"

"Really?" he questioned surprisingly.

"Yeah, apparently in a few cities they've got a huge bet going about who's going to win and most people have picked us!" she explained on the verge of squealing with happiness.

"See, I told you we'd get far with this thing," he reminded her as he gave her a hug. "I'd better get going; my family is having dinner in a couple of hours and I need to shower,"

Once again, time flew by and Rachel was once again thrown into the hectic schedule of school once again. She was receiving more homework than ever before added with more and more Quidditch practices, due to the fact that Gryffindor were favorites for the Quidditch Cup. In the midst of all this chaos, they still managed to get some laughs: charming a shampoo bottle that followed Snape around, trying to wash his hair; James had asked Lily out multiple times, the nicest reply being, 'Go away you self-centered idiot!', and Sirius had decided to stop dating, which Rachel, James, Remus, and Peter agreed that Sirius would be unable to hold up with.

The day of the Quidditch final came and Rachel had made a spectacular save, though breaking her arm in the process, making Gryffindor the winners for the second year in a row. Surprisingly, McGonagall was crying from joy, since this was the first time in a century that Gryffindor had won two years in a row. Soon after, the happiness died away, due to the pressing issue of exams coming up. Everything went quite well, but during her crystal ball reading, Rachel saw something that once again shook her to the very core.

She was gazing into the crystal ball, supposed to write down what she saw, but became so afraid that she had made something up.

While looking into the foggy crystal ball, thinking to herself that all it meant was that there was going to be a load of fog tonight, she started to see something. She saw a bright flash of green and saw a body fall to the floor, then the wand turned to someone who looked exactly like her and the next thing she saw was a lightning bolt, but became too afraid and looked away, scared to see anything else occurring in the ball.

Once again, she kept this bone-chilling secret to herself, and started to have nightmares where she kept seeing the body fall after the green light and the mysterious lightning bolt.

On the train ride back, Sirius could tell that something was wrong with Rachel and decided to confront her about it.

"Rach, sweetie, are you okay? You look like something's bothering you," he told her. James, Remus, and Peter all looked up at this question.

Could he tell something was going on?

"No," she said, making something up. "I'm just a little nervous about the competition coming up since Drew and I haven't been able to practice much,"

"Oh, okay," Sirius said, but he was not convinced. He knew Rachel well enough to know that she was hiding something.

When the train had stopped, she gave the guys a kiss on the cheek and went off with her family, unaware of the immense tragedy that would soon happen.

A/N: I am so sorry for the quick year, but I promise that there's a story line coming up in the next chapter that you won't want to miss.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel Delancy, a fourteen year old girl, was your typical teenage girl, except that she and her best friend of ten years were witches, as well as Rachel's mom and her brother, Tommy. Her father, David, was a Muggle. Every year, Rachel attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and would be in her fourth year this year.

She rolled over in her bed one morning and saw that it was 10:15am. _Time to get up,_ she thought and then she rolled out of bed. There were only ten days until she went back to Hogwarts and she couldn't wait. Her four other greatest friends were wizards and attended Hogwarts and they were in her year. They were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Rachel looked over at her nightstand and saw a pile of letters that her friends had sent her over the summer and smiled.

After rummaging through the closet, she decided on Hollister jean shorts and a white halter top. She went into her bathroom to brush her gorgeous brown hair and brush her teeth. Once done, she looked in the mirror and saw that her eyes looked a little tired; her startling blue eyes had a couple of tiny red lines, but she decided to ignore them, thinking that they'll go away later.

She went downstairs for breakfast and was startled when she saw her brother, Tommy, and her two younger sisters, Angela and Danielle, around the table without her parents. Rachel sat in her seat next to Tommy and asked, "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"Oh," he said, looking up from his pancakes. "They had something to do and they promised they'd be back tomorrow, I think it has something to do with that thing that Mom is in,"

Their mom, Victoria, was a member of a secret organization that Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts and considered the greatest wizard ever, had formed to fight against Lord Voldemort, the Darkest wizard ever.

"We have to baby-sit until they get back," Tommy added.

Angela and Danielle were both a few years younger: Angela was seven years old and Danielle was six, though they could easily pass for twins by their actions and appearances. They weren't usually a hand-full; they usually played together in their room, so this pleased Rachel very much.

She got herself a couple of fluffy pancakes and put butter and syrup, and she ate them. After breakfast, Tommy asked her, "Do you want to hang out, today? We're supposed to stay in the house, so maybe we could have a movie marathon,"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!"

Danielle and Angela went up to their room while Tommy and Rachel went into the living room to decide what they would watch. In the end, they decided on a marathon of their favorite movies starting with the oldest.

They had already eaten supper and the sun had set by the time they reached the third movie. Rachel and Tommy were sitting on their comfortable brown couch, Tommy with one arm around her. They were very close: if Rachel had a best friend in the family, there is no doubt that it would be Tommy. In fact, he _was_ like a best friend to her. Tommy and Rachel had been very close for as long as she could remember.

Tommy got up and turned out the lights for better effect. Not even a minute after Tommy had returned to the couch, the sound of the front door reached her ears. This made Rachel jump. The only light, except for the upstairs light, that was on was the light coming from the television screen. Tommy stood up and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He held it out in front of him, waiting to see who this intruder was. They knew for a fact that it wasn't their parents, who always yelled out greetings when they returned home, and it wasn't very late so they would know that Tommy and Rachel would still be awake.

"Tommy?" she whispered with fear in her voice. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," he whispered back sounding equally afraid, "stay there and don't move,"

She didn't think that she could move even if she wanted to; terror was paralyzing her. Rachel thought she heard a creak of the floor come from the kitchen. Fear started to envelope her: it was becoming clearer that whoever this was inside their house was not one of their parents.

"_Lumos,_" Tommy whispered. A light erupted from his wand. Rachel froze, her voice caught in her throat, terror overpowering it. There was a man standing in their living room, but not just any man, but the one that the Wizarding world had come to fear most: Lord Voldemort.

Rachel had seen a picture of him once, though she wasn't sure how they had gotten it, and he looked like the person in that photo. A face as white as a skull, slits for nostrils, and had red, gleaming eyes that made Rachel's hair stand on end. Those eyes, those evil eyes, showed no mercy, no pity in them, no guilt over the many people he had already murdered. Her eyes slid straight to the thing that Voldemort was holding: a wand, pointed at Tommy.

"There's no need for you to die," Voldemort said in a soft, cold voice, addressing Tommy. "All I ask is that you move aside and your life, along with the little girls' lives, will be spared."

"There's no way you can make me move," Tommy said. Rachel could tell that Tommy was trying to be brave, but she heard the fright in his voice.

"Move aside, boy, or I'll be forced to kill you too,"

"No," Tommy said forcefully.

"You leave me no choice then," Voldemort said, raising his wand higher. Rachel had a sense of foreboding. "_Avada Kedavra!"_

A flash of green light and Tommy's body fell to the floor, leaving Rachel standing there, in front of the most feared wizard, without her wand. She wanted to scream; she felt tears welling up in her eyes but fought them back. When Rachel finally recovered her voice, she was able to choke out, "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"You are one-half of the problem, the obstacle, on my road to invincibility. I need to dispose of you so that when the time comes that the second problem is born, I'll only have one person to deal with."

"Part of the problem?"

"I do not need to explain myself, now it's your turn to die. _Avada Kedavra!"_

As Voldemort said those words, Rachel thought of Sirius and her other friends, the people she loved most of all, and then there was a flash of green light and Rachel felt herself falling backward and landing on the couch, a burning sensation on her forehead. She didn't understand though, she was still breathing, but that curse killed her brother. Rachel moved around a tiny bit, and then heard Voldemort run out of the house. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still alive, still breathing, still able to see her brother, her beloved brother, lying dead on the floor.

Rachel crawled off the couch and ran to the phone in the kitchen; still being cautious, for horror was still very much alive in her. She quickly dialed her mother's cell phone number and heard it ring twice before it was answered.

"Hello?" came Victoria's voice.

"Mom," Rachel choked out; she was starting to cry now. "H-he's d-dead. V-V-Voldemort killed him."

"What? What are you talking about?" Victoria said sharply.

"T-Tommy's dead."

"Oh my gosh," she heard her mother say. "Oh my gosh," alarm and panic coming in her voice. "David, we have to get home, _now!"_

Rachel was now fully sobbing. The death of her brother was starting to sink in and tears flooded down her face.

"Okay, sweetie, Rachel, we'll be home in a couple of seconds," Victoria told her. Rachel hung up and went into the living room where Tommy's body was and kneeled down next to him. Guilt was now mixing with her sorrow; Tommy had died trying to protect her. That's when she noticed that her forehead was still burning dully.

Rachel jumped when the fireplace lit up with green flames and her parents emerged from it. She heard sobbing behind her and knew that her mother had seen Tommy. Looking around at them, she saw that her father, also crying, was hugging Victoria tightly. He looked over and saw Rachel kneeling there and beckoned her over. Her parents clutched her as though she would also die if they let go.

"Oh, Rachel, we're so glad you're alive," Victoria, said through her sobs.

Her parents pulled away, looked at her, and suddenly had confused looks on their faces.

"Rach, what's that?" David asked, touching a point on her forehead.

She was confused. To see what her dad was talking about, Rachel knelt down in front of the television, where the movie was still playing, and checked her appearance on the screen. There was a strange lightning bolt scar on her forehead now.

"D-Dumbledore should be here anytime now," David told her.

As soon as he had finished that statement, Dumbledore appeared from the fireplace. Rachel, afraid to look at her brother again, went into the kitchen and sat down in her usual spot, head down on the counter, fighting the urge to throw up. She heard three people walk into the kitchen and sit down on the stools opposite of her. While here, with her head down, Rachel suddenly remembered what had bothered her last year. During the Divination exam, she had gazed into the crystal ball and saw a flash of green light, a body falling, and a lightning bolt. Thinking about this and what had happened tonight made Rachel feel eerie, almost as if she had understood what was coming, just didn't know when.

"Rachel," Dumbledore said softly. "I know this will be tough, but I need you to tell us what happened,"

Rachel, after a moment's hesitation, launched into the story. She told them of the intruder, of his unsuccessful persuasion, of his murdering, and what he had said to her before firing the curse. After revealing this, she asked Professor Dumbledore,

"Why do I have a lightning bolt scar on my forehead?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"That is where the unsuccessful Killing Curse hit you, my dear. You'll have that scar forever,"

Victoria and David sent Rachel off to bed and they decided to tell Danielle and Angela about Tommy.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Until the day that she was going off to Hogwarts, Rachel had laid in bed, sleeping and crying, only getting up to use the restroom or when her parents forced her to eat something. The longest amount of time spent out of her room was for Tommy's funeral, which her friends, except for Lily, were unable to attend. Guilt had started eating her away and every night she dreamed of the terror that she had experienced that night.

Lily was constantly coming over, trying to get Rachel to become more social or even get out of bed for more than a few minutes, but Rachel sat there in silence until she left. The rest of her friends were writing a lot asking how she was doing, but she lied every time and said that she wasn't too bad.

After taking much longer than usual to pack, Rachel heaved her suitcase and broom downstairs. They went about their schedule as they usually did on this day, but there was more tear-shedding today. The car, which was usually talkative, sat in complete silence, everyone at loss for words.

When they arrived at Kings Cross, Rachel grabbed her luggage and went straight for the pillar that led to Platform 9 ¾ which is where the Hogwarts Express left for the school. As Rachel got onto the platform, she noticed a lot of people watching her. The news of her escape from Voldemort had made the front page of the newspaper of the Wizarding world, _The Daily Prophet._ She was the only one to have ever survived the curse.

Rachel hugged her family and made her way onto the train, going for the compartment furthest back. When she saw the guys she loved most sitting there, talking and laughing, she felt happier than she had in the last few days. She entered the compartment but before she could do much, Sirius had already grabbed her luggage and secured it for her. As she sat down in her usual spot, Remus and Peter came over and gave her long hugs, which made her have to fight back tears that threatened to overcome her at the drop of a dime nowadays.

James, too, gave her a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. When Sirius sat down next to her, he pulled her into a one-armed hug and pulled her toward him, so her head was resting on him. At this, the other three boys smiled and fought back laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing. It's just that you two are sitting awfully coupleish right now," James said, smirking.

"Well, we're just friends and you all know it," Rachel told them, all while feeling slightly confused. She felt these odd feelings in the bottom of her stomach as she sat there being held by Sirius and wondered if she was getting feelings for him. . . .

At first, Rachel had to urge the guys to talk because they sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say, since they didn't want to upset her. Things were as normal as could be when the train stopped at Hogwarts. Rachel was feeling very self-conscious though, due to the fact that she had a very famous scar on her forehead now. As people stared at her when they made their way out of the train, Rachel felt really uncomfortable and sometimes the guys would have to give dirty looks at people to get them to stop.

They got into a carriage, except that it was no longer horseless: it was being pulled by a black, skeletal looking horse known as a Thestral, which James and Sirius had explained to Peter a couple years ago. Those animals were only seen by people who had seen death, so of course she was able to see them.

They went about their business as usual: dropped off their luggage in the entrance hall, went into the Great Hall, watched the small and timid first years get sorted, and ate the largest meal of the year. Dumbledore dismissed them to their Houses and the five of them made their way up to the seventh floor, where the entrance was at the fat lady's portrait.

Rachel followed the guys into their dormitory and sat down next to Sirius on his bed. Since they were alone, she decided to tell them what had happened that dreadful night, memories flashing right before her eyes as she relived it for what would be, hopefully, the last time. After finishing, the guys sat in silence, shocked by the story. She bade them good night and went off to her room, not even bothering to change, and fell asleep, once again having uneasy dreams involving a whiter than white face and a flash of green light.

When Rachel woke up the next few mornings, she had always woken up with tears on her face and Lily sitting next to her on her bed, watching her with amazing green eyes full of pity and concern. Every morning, Lily had confirmed Rachel's fear by informing her that she kept mumbling one name: Tommy.

Lily, out of worry, had told the guys about it and they were bound and determined to make her enjoy her day. They snuck out a couple of nights to explore more of the castle, finding three more secret passages, and they were coming up with a new jinx to use on Snape about every other day. Most of the time it was turning his hair pink or orange or even both, but the one that had pleased her the most was when Sirius bewitched a bottle of shampoo to follow Snape around, knocking him on the head, telling him to wash his hair. Though Snape always knew who was behind it, James, Sirius, and occasionally Remus and Peter, always got away without detention, which amazed Rachel immensely. Rachel knew that without her friends, she would be in a pit of depression and misery, and she did fall into it every once in a while, but her friends always found a way to bring her out of it again.

Her teachers were still assigning them lots of homework and cracking down on the rules, but they were a little lenient with Rachel, for the staff had been informed of Rachel's attack, therefore increasing security around the school.

One Friday night, just hours after she, James, Remus, and Peter had made fun of Sirius for once again having a girlfriend, Ellen Pemper, Rachel had woken up from a dream that wasn't cut into bits and pieces, but in fact the entire recollection of that night, mixed with memories of Dumbledore telling her parents that she might be one of Voldemort's targets and that a clear cut sign would be happen, and happen it did. Waking up, sweaty and crying, she walked out of her dormitory quietly, so not to wake Lily, and went into the boy's dormitory and went for Sirius's bed. Out of all the guys, she was closest to him.

"Sirius? Sirius," she whispered, shaking him lightly.

"What?" he said sleepily. He opened his eyelids to reveal his beautiful grey eyes and when he saw Rachel standing there, he jolted up and said a little more urgently, "What? Rach, are you okay?"

Rachel smiled. Sirius cared about her so much, but even in the light of things, she couldn't help but notice that Sirius was shirtless and looked quite good.

"Yeah—well, no, not really. I had the same dream tonight except that it was extremely vivid and just as terrifying as that night." she told him.

With a dawn of understanding about the reason Rachel had come in, he pulled back the covers, and beckoned her onto his bed. Gratefully, she crawled on and he pulled the covers over them and started stroking her hair so lightly that it gave her goosebumps. He whispered very softly in her ear, "It's okay, it's okay. Get some sleep, I'll be right here," He repeated this a few times until Rachel fell into a sleep and after Sirius put an arm around her, feeling some indescribable feeling, fell asleep also.

Sirius woke up the next morning, arm still around Rachel, because of three voices whispering by the bed. He opened his eyes and looked around for the source, already knowing what it was: His three best guy friends. Finally laying eyes on them, he demanded softly, "What are you guys talking about?"

At this question, his friends looked over at him and stopped talking abruptly. All three of them were smirking at him, obviously trying to hold back any laughter.

"What?" he asked again, a little louder but still quiet enough to let Rachel sleep peacefully.

"Well," Peter started, smiling.

"We were just wondering what the heck we missed last night," Remus said.

"Yeah, when did you two lovebirds become a couple?" James asked, buttoning up a shirt.

Sirius used a finger to beckon James over. Once close enough, Sirius grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him menacingly towards him.

"We are _not_ a couple," Sirius growled in his ear. James pulled away, smirking once again.

"You guys would make a good one,"

"So true," Remus agreed.

"No, listen guys, I'll tell you what happened."

The three guys sat on James's bed, giving Sirius their full attention.

"Well, last night, she came in and woke me up, telling me about how terrifying and vivid her dreams were, almost like witnessing it again. So, I let her sleep in my bed and I'm glad I did. She was shaking something fierce and once she fell asleep, she looked completely at peace, so I'm glad I did something that causes you three amusement,"

"Oh," Peter said, looking uncomfortable.

"Well, um," Remus said, apparently at loss for words.

"Well, we're going to head down to breakfast. I guess we'll see you later?" James said, looking toward Rachel. Sirius nodded. They waved good-bye and left the dormitory, leaving Sirius and Rachel alone. Sirius jumped slightly when Rachel started to stir and then woke up. She snapped open her eyes and looked around.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"The boy's dormitory, Rach."

She looked around at him and leaned over to give him a long hug.

"Thank you so much. That was the first night that I actually had a dreamless sleep,"

"I guess I just scare away those horrible things," he told her, smiling.

As Rachel looked into his unbelievably good-looking face and sparkling grey eyes, she was overwhelmed by a sudden urge to kiss him. She felt some romantic tension build in the air and then looked away.

"I'm getting dressed, I'll meet you in the common room," she told him and she left the room, feeling idiotic and disappointed.

Rachel chose a dark blue t-shirt with the word Hollister in light blue on the side, a pair of feminine jeans, and a pair of black sandals. She brushed her hair and teeth and went down to the common room where Sirius was already waiting for her. Rachel saw him in a totally different light now and was slightly shocked by these sudden overwhelming romantic feelings for her greatest friend. Together, they walked down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast.

Once there, they sat down in their usual spots at the Gryffindor table and ate their breakfast, acting like everything was normal, except that both were having unfamiliar feelings that they didn't know how to take and decided to ignore.

In the middle of December, only a couple of days before Christmas break started, after many hours of homework, many pranks, and quite a few Quidditch practices, Rachel sat in the boy's room with James, Remus, and Peter, talking and laughing about different things in general.

"Hey, James, I hear that Lily turned you down, again," Remus said, grinning. "Only this time, it was a little more, how should we say it, swearing,"

"Oh, yeah, that's putting it lightly," James said darkly.

"You know," Rachel said, looking up from her Transfiguration essay, "I always knew that Lily had a temper, red hair," she added as Remus silently asked. "Like I said, I always knew she had it in her, but I never really expected it to be used,"

"Yeah, there's got to be a darker side of her that no one is able to see, except for you, Rach,"

"Lily isn't capable of a dark side, you just pissed her off enough to make her start using swear words," Rachel said, laughing her head off.

"Yeah, yeah," said James, turning back to his homework also.

Rachel saw Peter check the clock.

"It's 11:05pm, why isn't Sirius back by now?" he asked.

"I don't know, but he borrowed the Cloak tonight,"

"Did he say for what?" Rachel asked, absentmindedly.

"Nope, just asked if he could borrow it for a few hours,"

Rachel was not disturbed by this information, in fact she didn't really care at all. Sirius was probably out exploring or sneaking food from the kitchen, no big deal. Not even a minute later, Sirius walked into the dormitory, smiling.

"Hey, Sirius, where the hell were you?" James asked, feigning a worried voice.

"Well," he said awkwardly, glancing quickly at Rachel. "I was with, um, well—"

"Spit it out," Rachel said, still not looking up from her paper.

"I was with Ellen,"

Rachel looked away from her paper, up at him. He was no longer smiling, but looking at the ground, for reasons Rachel did not understand.

"The entire time?" James asked, astonished.

"Yeah, since, like 8:30," he mumbled.

Rachel felt as though someone had shoved ice down her insides; she felt cold, numb, and sorrow, but a different sorrow than she had felt at Tommy's death. Silently, she closed her book, gathered her stuff together, and walked out of the dormitory without looking or talking to anyone. She entered her room, saw Lily sleeping, quietly put away her things, and fell asleep on the comfortable bed.


	8. Chapter 8

"When you say you were with Ellen the entire time, with the Invisibility Cloak, do you mean that you were having—?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded, not sure what to say.

"I broke up with her afterwards, though,"

"You _what?_" James asked.

"Do you realize that you have officially given yourself the title of asshole?" Remus asked.

"Why did you do it?" Peter asked.

"I felt guilty because there's someone else; someone that makes me feel like things I never imagined I would _ever_ feel,"

"Really? Who is it?" Remus asked, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information, of the change of Sirius's personality, of actual feelings for someone.

"Oh my gosh," said James, clapping a hand to his mouth. "It's Rachel, isn't it?"

Sirius slowly looked up at his best guy friend and nodded.

"How long?"

"Since—since that night, you know, that she came and slept in my bed,"

"So," said Remus. "You've had feelings, real feelings, for Rach since September and right now it's December?"

"Yeah, pretty much,"

"Why haven't you asked her out? You know that any girl would accept in a heartbeat," Peter told him.

"Well, I wanted to, but I got all nervous and I wanted to throw up," Sirius said, wondering how they were taking this secret of his.

"You should! You should ask her out!" Remus exclaimed.

"Really?" asked Sirius, happy that his friends were taking this quite well.

"Yeah! We've been telling you since that night that you two would make an awesome couple!" James said, smiling.

"Well, let's all get some sleep so I can keep my head on straight when Ellen tries to curse me into oblivion tomorrow and I will consider what you have told me," Sirius suggested, changing into his pajamas and getting into his bed.

"Ah . . . boys, our Sirius is growing up," said James, received a pillow in his face, tossed it back to Sirius, and he turned off the light, leaving them in complete darkness.

(now back to Rachel)

Rachel woke up in an angry mood and did her best for an hour or so to not talk to anyone so she wouldn't accidentally snap, but then James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came into the Great Hall for breakfast. She looked away from Lily, who she had been sitting with, and saw them whispering stuff to Sirius, but then turned back to her toast . . . she was in no mood to talk to Sirius. Unfortunately, he and James sat down on either side of her while Remus and Peter sat by Lily.

"Hi, Rach," Sirius said. She noticed that he sounded a little nervous, but decided to ignore him. Rachel saw from the corner of her that Sirius made eye contact with Remus and was slightly confused. "I was wondering if, maybe, you might want to take a walk with me."

She shrugged. Rachel could feel her irritated attitude starting to form just after it had died a few minutes ago. While eating her toast, she saw that, once again, Sirius made quick eye contact with Remus again.

"Sirius," she said in a tired voice. "What do you want?"

"I want you to take a walk with me,"

She groaned.

"Fine," she agreed and she and Sirius left the Great Hall and went walking up to Gryffindor tower, to get their coats and scarves. They went outside onto the snowy grounds afterwards, Rachel in a black coat with white faux fur around the hood and Sirius in a black coat as well, and they walked for the first few minutes in silence.

"Why are we here?" she finally asked him.

"Because I wanted to talk to you about something,"

"Yes?"

"Well, um, last night I broke up Ellen,"

"After you two had sex?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer out loud.

"Yeah,"

"You know what," Rachel said, furious at her best friend for doing that to someone, "you are a son of a—"

"Wait," he said, holding one hand up. "Yes, I know I've probably received the look of that, but I hope you'll hear me out about why I did it," Sirius put his hand down.

"Fine, tell me why you did it," she requested of him. Rachel was getting more irritated and irate by the minute and was hoping that Sirius wouldn't say anything stupid, forcing her to let loose on him and possibly reveal something she had been hiding for quite some time.

"Well, there was someone else," Sirius said quickly.

"You were cheating on her?" Rachel asked in a raised voice.

"No, no, please keep it down. I don't want anything to spread before it has to. Anyway, I realized that I felt guilty because I had feelings for someone,"

"Sirius Black really has romantic feelings?" Rachel asked skeptically, causing Sirius to scowl at her. The only reason he had asked out those other girls is because they were pretty, but never once did he feel anything real towards them. Hearing this stuff was calming her down slightly and allowed him to continue the story and apologized for her comment.

"Well, there was someone else, and, wow it's hot out here. Actually, she's, um, the one who's walking with me,"

Rachel stopped, as did Sirius. He was looking down at the ground and was obviously nervous.

"You—you—you have feelings for—for _me?_" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up.

"Yeah,"

Rachel, regardless of the fact that she wanted to hit him at the same time, took her finger and tilted up Sirius's chin so he was finally looking at her with those grey eyes she adored, and then she kissed him, for quite some time, and then stopped and asked, while trying not to smile,

"Does that answer your question?" She couldn't keep a straight face and started chuckling.

"It most certainly does," he replied, grinning from ear to ear, and he took hold of her hand and they walked back toward the castle to tell their friends of this wondrous event.

"So, you'll come to Hogsmeade with me after the break? And as more than friends?"

"Of course I will," she said. He kissed her hand and they walked up to Gryffindor tower together and Rachel couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy.

"Are you guys going out?" James asked, smiling at the sight of them walking into the empty common room, except for James, Remus, and Peter. They were holding hands and both looked exceptionally happy.

"Yeah," they said at the same time and then smiled at each other.

"Well, now aren't you guys just the happiest couple," Remus said, amused at the sight of Sirius acting so romantic with someone within the first few minutes of a new relationship.

For the rest of the night, the five of them talked about stuff, mostly about last night, and Rachel revealed to them that she had had feelings for Sirius for quite some time. The entire time, Rachel and Sirius held hands and sometimes gave each other a quick peck on the lips. When she went to bed that night, she was cheerful and disappointed because the break started tomorrow.

Rachel woke up surprisingly early the next morning and packed her things up since she would be leaving for her home in a few hours. On one level, Rachel was happy to leave so that she could see her family and actually get to relax; on another level she was disappointed because she wouldn't see Sirius again until the first of January; but on the last and overwhelming level she was terrified of returning home to experience what was supposed to be a happy holiday turn into a sob-fest and a time with many memories that would haunt her. She was almost tempted to ask if she could stay at Hogwarts and possibly persuade her friends to do the same, but she realized that she had to be brave, had to stick it out, because the rest of her family was experiencing the same thing, minus the guilt, regardless of what her parents said.

David and Victoria kept putting the blame on themselves, saying that if they hadn't gone, then Tommy would still be alive, but Rachel believed that she was the one to blame. Even if her parents had been home, Voldemort would've cut through them to get to her, because she was one-half of the problem. Even to this minute, she still contemplated the meaning of it. What did it mean? The need to know the answer had secretly been eating her alive.

Thinking about this range of memories and emotions in a comfy armchair in front of a lit fireplace, she had not noticed that Sirius was sitting in the chair next to her, watching her with eyes of worry. He lightly grabbed her hand and squeezed it slightly.

"Rach, honey, are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, just thinking . . ." she answered still gazing into the fire.

"About the holidays?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. She subconsciously rubbed her scar; it had been faintly prickling for a couple of weeks. Before she could say more, a petite girl, second-year by the look of her, came running into the common room and came right for her, holding out a scroll.

"P-Professor Dumbledore told me to deliver this to R-Rachel D-Delancy," she said in a small voice.

"Thanks," Rachel replied, taking the scroll and the girl ran out of the tower again. She opened the note and it read,

Rachel:

Please come to my office right away; there's something I need to inform you of before you leave for the holidays. I enjoy lemon drops.

Professor Albus Dumbledore

"He needs to inform you of something? About Voldemort or something?" Sirius asked, completely perplexed by what he had just read. "And what's with 'I enjoy lemon drops'?"

"It's the password to get into his office. . . . well, I'd better go, he wants to see me immediately,"

She gave Sirius a hug and a kiss and made her way to the Headmaster's office. Rachel had never been in there before, although James and Sirius had been sent there a couple of times when their pranks got a little out of hand.

Rachel went to the fourth floor and went down a passage to the right. At the end of it sat an entrance with a gargoyle in front of it.

"Lemon drops," Rachel said, and the door turned into a spiraling staircase. She ran up the steps and came upon a wooden door; she knocked twice and a voice from inside said,

"Come in,"

Rachel turned the brass handle and pushed open the door. The room was completely circular with a fireplace and many tables and cabinets holding delicate looking silver objects. In the middle of this room was a handsome desk and two purple pouf chairs on the side of the desk closest to the door. On the other side of the desk was an elegant maroon chair with a design that reminded Rachel of a throne, with Professor Dumbledore sitting in it. Sitting on a stand next to the desk was a multi-colored bird: a phoenix.

"Please have a seat," he requested. Rachel took the chair closest to the fireplace.

"I know that the events that took place over the summer were terrifying and tragic, but I can tell that something that occurred in that time has left confusion in your head. I hope that this meeting will help clear it up,"

Rachel looked up at him. How did he know that she was confused?

"Shortly before Voldemort tried to kill you," he continued. "He said that you were only half of the problem that would stop him from becoming immortal. . . . have you been wondering about this?"

"Yeah," she replied, desperately wanting to know more.

"Well, a few years back, there was a certain prophecy created; one that says that, well, I'll let you hear it yourself,"

Dumbledore stood up and went over to a cabinet and pulled out a stone basin filled with silvery liquid. He placed it on the desk in front of Rachel and beckoned her forward. As she stood up and walked to the basin, he shook it a little and a ghostly figure of a woman with very curly hair and glasses so big that she reminded Rachel of a bug. She opened her mouth and started to speak in the strangest voice Rachel had ever heard,

"_In the year of 1992, born in the midst of the Halloween month, a girl with powers to vanquish the darkest one, born to a Muggle man and a witch, but she cannot do it alone. A few years later, a child will be born as the seventh month dies to parents who have thrice escaped the darkest one's wrath, and both need be alive, because one without the other cannot defeat the darkest one. With their destinies entwined in ways more than one, they will be considered one and together they must fight the darkest one. The Dark Lord or the one must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. Only when the opposite genders come together can the Dark Lord be defeated once and for all."_

Rachel stood there, speechless, as the woman stopped speaking and disappeared into the silvery liquid.

"Th-that's why Voldemort tried to kill me? Because me and this other one have the power to vanquish Voldemort?"

"Precisely," Dumbledore said, taking his seat once again. "There is more you need to understand because you need to know when the other half is going to be born. When it mentions that your destinies are entwined in more ways than one, I believe it means that even without this prophecy, you and this boy would be a part of each other's lives anyway."

"Wait, how do you know it's a boy?" Rachel asked.

"At the end when it says that the opposite genders must come together,"

"Oh,"

"I have a hunch, and usually my hunches are correct, that this baby boy will be born to someone close to you, probably one of your friends. So I will urge you to stay close to them after you leave Hogwarts for you and this boy need to work together to defeat Voldemort. It will be very dark times until then, but we have no choice but to wait. For now, this is all that I know, but you needed to be informed of this as well,"

"Sir," Rachel asked. "When the prophecy says that the Dark Lord or the one must die at the hand of the other, does that mean that this boy and I will have to kill Voldemort or Voldemort will kill us?"

"Yes, unfortunately, you will either be murdered or murderer,"

"So, if this boy and I are the ones to succeed, which one of us will murder Voldemort, sir?"

"I cannot be sure at this point, I'm afraid,"

"Would it be possible to tell my friends about this?"

Dumbledore sat there for a moment contemplating the answer.

"I think it would be fine to inform Mr. Potter and Mr. Black about this, seeing that they're closest to you, but I recommend that you inform no one else about this unless I see fit."

"What about Lily? We've been best friends for eleven years now,"

"I can promise you that you will be able to tell her eventually, but now is not the time. I'm sure that you will understand,"

"Thank you, sir,"

Rachel recognized that the conversation was over and left the office, hurrying back to Gryffindor tower to tell James and Sirius about this staggering information. Things inside of Rachel's head were clicking: Dumbledore informed her parents a couple of years ago that Rachel is probably the target of Voldemort; Voldemort said that she was one-half of the problem; it was all making complete sense now.

"Password?" the fat lady asked.

"Phoenix," Rachel said and the portrait allowed her entrance.

Almost as soon as Rachel clambered into the common room, Sirius was bombarding her with questions. She led him over to the couch and told him, "Go and wake up James, he should hear this, but don't wake anyone else up,"

Sirius looked confused at why she only wanted to tell James and himself about it, but immediately went up to the boy's room, coming back with James a minute later. James was shirtless and in flannel pajama pants; his hair was messier than ever.

"What is it?" he asked, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn. He and Sirius sat down on the couch. Rachel remained standing, pacing back and forth in front of them, wondering where to begin.

"Well, Dumbledore called me to his office to inform me of something. When I arrived he told me that it concerned the attack over the summer. Apparently, there was a prophecy made about me, saying that me and this boy that will be born a few years later will be able to defeat Voldemort but only if we work together. There was also something about me and this boy's destinies being entwined in more than one way and Dumbledore thinks that this child will be born to one of my friends."

"Wow," Sirius whispered and looked at James for his reaction: he sat there, mouth slightly open, stunned by what he was hearing.

"So you and this boy will be able to defeat Voldemort?" James asked.

"Maybe," Rachel said. She was really hoping that they weren't going to get to this point: she had deliberately left out the part of 'one must die at the hand of the other' so she wouldn't freak them out. Hopefully they wouldn't panic about it more than she was at the moment.

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" Sirius questioned. He looked scared to hear the answer.

"Well, fine. I left out the part about where the prophecy is saying that, um, 'one must die at the hand of the other, for one cannot live while the other survives,'" She waited for their reactions.

"Wh-what does that mean?" Sirius asked, trying to fight his rising temper.

"Sometime in my life I'll be murdered or be murderer," Rachel answered quickly.

James sat there, speechless, eyes wide open in shock. Sirius, on the other hand, looked furious.

"No! There is no way that I'll let you face Voldemort! I'm coming with you during break!"

"Sirius, no," Rachel rejected forcefully. "This holiday is going to so effing hard, I don't want someone else watching my every move while I'm there, my parents will be doing that already. Listen, I know you don't want anything to happen to me, but there's no way we can stop it."

"She's right, Sirius," James said, finally getting his voice back. "All we can do is be there for her, but there's no stopping what's going to come,"

The sun had fully risen and many other students were waking up and going down to breakfast.

"You guys are right," Sirius admitted.

"Thanks you guys for understanding," she said, giving James a hug and Sirius a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go wake the others up and get something to eat,"

"Yeah, I'm starving!" James agreed.

They went upstairs and after James got dressed, they woke up the other sound sleepers by pouring a bucket of cold water on each of them, causing them to use a few swear words and Rachel, James, and Sirius ran out of the room before the two could get a hold of their wands.

"That was _way_ too much fun," Sirius said, laughing as he went down to the Great Hall with James and Rachel.

"Oh my gosh I think Remus is going to kill you, honey," Rachel told him.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Remus did kill Sirius, he was so pissed off," James said, reliving the memory with a smile on his face.

They sat down at the table, followed by Remus and Peter shortly after. Rachel, James, and Sirius all laughed at the sight of them, though their hair was no longer plastered to their faces. Soon after breakfast though, the five of them went separate ways as they went home.


	9. Chapter 9

During the next two weeks, Rachel and her family all put on happy faces but deep down they were all grieving and truly wishing that they could be by themselves. Rachel, Angela, and Danielle received more presents than ever, especially Rachel, probably because of her close encounter with death. She received a $50 iTunes card, a compass for her Firebolt from her parents, a box of chocolates from Remus, some Zonko's products from Peter and James, and a gorgeous silver necklace with a two pendants on it: one was light blue and the other was dark blue from Sirius. Rachel now wore it around her neck without taking it off except for sleeping. This lead to many questions asked by her parents and it was revealed that she was going out with Sirius, which delighted her parents very much. Back in her second year after her parents had met Sirius, they kept insisting that she go out with them.

As happy as she was about dating Sirius, she was also terrified. When getting back to Hogwarts on January 1st, she and James were the only ones who had returned and they discussed Rachel's fears in the common room.

"You know, Rach, I don't think you have anything to fear," he reassured her.

"I know, but I'm just afraid that's just going to dump me after a few weeks,"

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you something, but you can't tell him I told you this because he'd kill me. Anyway, Sirius dates girls who are beautiful, which was a reason that it came as no surprise that he started going out with you. But one night, he was telling us that his perfect woman would not only be beautiful, but charming, intelligent, funny, and romantic. You are his perfect woman and I think his heart would shatter if anything happened to your relationship."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Rach, really," James said, giving her a one-armed hug.

At this second, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came into the common room. Seeing them hugging, Sirius said in a fake angry voice, "Are you hitting on my girl?"

"No, you know the only one I want is Lily. . . ." James answered in a dreamy voice he picked up when he started thinking about Lily. In order to snap him out of his trance, Rachel picked up a maroon pillow and smacked James in the face with it. In retaliation he smacked her back with it. Trying to avoid a pillow fight, Rachel got up, gave quick hugs to Remus and Peter, then turned to Sirius and whispered in his ear as they hugged each other tightly,

"I love the necklace,"

Sirius pulled away, arms still around her waist, her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you like it," and then he kissed her deeply. Before long though, they received three pillows in their faces and then a pillow fight followed, only ending when Rachel said she was tired and needed to sleep, in which she had disturbing dreams of more green light and a mysterious black-haired boy who resembled James but had Lily's magical green eyes.

They didn't have much time to relax though, because teachers were giving them hours of homework nightly to help prepare them for their O.W.L.s next year, even with many complaints, they didn't back down. If they had an hour of free time they were lucky. This continued for the rest of the year and exhausted many of the students, especially those in their fifth and seventh year. Rachel and Sirius were unable to spend time together, let alone keep working on their project for Remus with James and Peter. Gratefully, the exams ended and people were starting to relax and laugh more.

Rachel once again feared going home because she was afraid that Voldemort would stop at nothing to get a hold of her, which deep down she knew was true. The guys kept promising her that nothing would happen to her and they also promised that they'd spend as much time as they could with her. Reluctantly, she packed her bags on the last day of her fourth year and set off for the Hogwarts Express, not knowing the future brought so much darkness and tragedy for her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Ah, Lucius," a cold, clear voice came from the dark and gloomy looking room with a crackling fireplace. "Do we have a plan yet?"

"Not quite, My Lord," said another cold but softer voice. "But we do have some parts figured out,"

"Good, good. I am trusting you with this most important task, Lucius, do not fail me,"

"Never, My Lord,"

"Before you go, tell me what you have established," said the first voice.

"We are planning on bringing Sirius Black, cousin of Bellatrix, to the secret Friday the 13th room. Since you disposed of Delancy's brother, Black is the most important thing to her. There is no doubt in my mind that she will do anything and everything in her power to rescue him. That's when we somehow lure her to room where you can kill her,"

"Very good, very good. Keep me updated as the plans come together,"

"Certainly, My Lord," the second voice promised, and then the mystery figure left the room, leaving the other man. He looked into a mirror and a reflection of Lord Voldemort looked back at him.

Rachel startled awake. Without thinking, she held up her hands in front of her to verify that she had tan hands, not whiter than white ones. She had been Voldemort, seen everything from his point of view.

The thought of this sent shivers down Rachel Delancy's spine. Last summer, Rachel's brother, Tommy, had been murdered by Lord Voldemort, the Darkest wizard ever. Rachel had escaped with a lightning bolt scar on her forehead. Was this the cause? Rachel had never before seen anything from Voldemort's perspective or any other events concerning him unless you counted the numerous nightmares about Tommy's death. Could this scar be the reason that this was occurring now? Her scar hadn't hurt this badly before. . . .

For a minute, Rachel considered writing about this to her best friend and boyfriend, Sirius Black. Sirius attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Rachel and her other best friends: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Evans. Lily and Rachel had been best friends since they were small due to the fact that they had attended a Muggle school together for six years.

Almost immediately after she started to write a letter to Sirius, she changed her mind, crumpled the paper up, and tossed it into her trash can. Sirius was very protective of her and she didn't want to make him more worried about her than he already was. All of them feared another attack from Voldemort, but so far their fears had not happened, much to everyone's relief.

The sun was now rising, giving a pinkish tint to the dark velvet sky. Rachel decided that she would inform Dumbledore of this event tomorrow when she returned for her fifth year at Hogwarts. She crawled into bed and drifted off the sleep once more, hoping that her dreams would avoid Voldemort.

Next thing she knew, someone was lightly shaking her and saying in a soft voice, "Rachel, sweetie, time to get up. You need to start packing,"

Rachel recognized her mother's voice.

"I thought I didn't leave for Hogwarts until tomorrow," Rachel said groggily. When she had woken up earlier, did she really get the day wrong? It seemed unlikely, but possible.

"I let you sleep the entire day, yesterday," her mother explained. "You were awfully pale and you had a fever. They finally disappeared this morning,"

"That explains why I'm so hungry," Rachel mumbled. Her stomach had been making growling noises.

"First, get dressed and do your bathroom things, pack up your stuff, and come downstairs to eat breakfast. I woke you up a little earlier so you could eat more food,"

Her mom walked out of Rachel's dark blue room and shut the door, leaving Rachel alone as she rolled out of bed and started her routine.

Another thirty minutes later, Rachel had brought down her stuff and was currently eating her breakfast. She kept glancing at the seat to her left, which was unoccupied. That was the seat that Tommy had sat in for so many years; they had not rid themselves of it because they agreed that it would've been an insult to his memory.

After finishing her pancakes and bacon, Rachel brought her luggage out to the trunk of their Audi. The rest of her family joined her in the car soon after. Rachel's father, David, climbed into the driver's seat; her mother, Victoria, got into the passenger's seat. Rachel, Danielle, and Angela sat in the backseats of the car. David started the car and drove off down the road.

They arrived at the train station about fifteen minutes later. Everyone got out of the car and made for Platform 9 ¾. Arriving there in about five minutes, Rachel said her good-byes and boarded the train. She went for the very last compartment and saw three of her best friends: James, Sirius, and Peter. Rachel opened the door, secured her luggage, gave hugs to James and Peter, and gave Sirius a peck on the lips.

"Where's Remus?" Rachel asked after her greetings. She sat down between James and Sirius and laid her head on Sirius's shoulder.

"Oh, he was made a Prefect so he's up in their cabin right now," James answered.

"Wow, I can't believe he was made a Prefect with friends like you," Rachel said, grinning.

"Maybe Dumbledore thinks he can calm us down a bit," Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," Peter added.

The four of them chatted for half of the train ride before Remus came in, looking exhausted. It had recently been a full moon.

"Who else was made Prefect?" Peter asked him.

"Lily Evans," Rachel answered for him. "Lily showed me the badge earlier this summer,"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you were neighbors," James said.

"You liar, you couldn't stop staring at her when you visited us,"

"Whatever," James mumbled.

They spent the rest of the time joking around and laughing until the train came to a stop and they piled off the train. The five of them grabbed a carriage pulled by a skeletal horse called a Thestral and they were carried up to the magnificent and large castle. After going through the usual routine, they ate until their stomachs were content, and went up towards the Gryffindor tower, intent on getting a good night's sleep before classes tomorrow.

Rachel woke up a little earlier than usual so she could talk to Dumbledore before going to breakfast. She got dressed, did her teeth, hair, and makeup, and made her way out of the Gryffindor common room to Dumbledore's office. Suddenly, it hit her that Dumbledore might've changed the password. She took a chance and said, "Lemon drops," to the gargoyle entrance and it turned into a spiraling staircase leading up to the Headmaster's office. After climbing up the stairs, Rachel became nervous of what her headmaster would think of this dream. She knocked on the door twice and a voice said, "Enter,"

Rachel opened the door and saw Albus Dumbledore sitting in his chair at his desk.

"Ah, Rachel, please have a seat," he requested. She accepted his offer and sat down in the purple chair closest to the lit fireplace. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, sir," Rachel started, trying to figure out how to explain what was on her mind. "A couple of nights ago, I had a dream or something, but it wasn't a normal one. I was Voldemort and I saw things from his point of view,"

"What did you see?" Dumbledore asked. He suddenly seemed very interested in what this visit was about.

"A man named Lucius came in and told Voldemort that the plan getting figured out," Rachel answered, wondering how much more information Dumbledore would ask for.

"Did Lucius say what the plan was?"

"They had the basics figured out. They were going to kidnap Sirius and take him to some weird room. Then they were going to lure me there and Voldemort would kill me,"

Dumbledore merely nodded. He had the tips of his fingers together and was looking at them.

"Also, when I woke up, my scar was burning badly," Rachel added hastily.

"Was this the first dream you had that was like this?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Yes,"

"Rachel, I believe that these are no ordinary dreams. You may be seeing what Voldemort is seeing at certain times, hearing what he is hearing. That scar on your forehead is no ordinary scar. I believe that it is the reason that this is happening. Did you remember feeling any peculiar feelings afterwards?"

Rachel thought about it for a minute.

"I felt . . . excited, like things were going well," she answered.

"You may very well be feeling what Voldemort is feeling at different times, also . . . very intriguing. Anyway, I think you should go down to the Great Hall and eat something since you have a busy year ahead of you. I must ask that you tell no one else of these visions and that you inform me immediately if another one occurs."

"Yes, sir," Rachel agreed and she left the Headmaster's office feeling shocked and frightened. She didn't want to be feeling and seeing what's going on with Voldemort. The thought of any more of those visions scared her, especially if they were plotting to kill her.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind since Dumbledore was right: this was going to be a very busy year since this was the year that fifth years took their O.W.L.s. Last year, their teachers started to pile on the homework in preparation for this year and that was bad enough. Rachel could tell that her hours of sleep were going to decline soon.

Sitting at her usual spot at the Gryffindor table, she waited for her friends to come down while she ate some toast and drank some orange juice. Before long though, the four guys took their spots and started jabbering away about what their lessons were going to be like and how much homework they would have. From what the older students had told Rachel and James during their Quidditch practices over the last four years, most students had minor breakdowns and lost a great deal of sleep. The thought of those worried the five of them. Rachel and Remus agreed that if they organize everything, this year can be manageable.

Dumbledore was right: after the first day of classes, Rachel felt so overwhelmed by the amount of homework and reviewing that they would be doing in the next year. Every class started off the same way, telling the class how important their O.W.L.s were and that they could affect how their futures played out.

After countless hours of homework and studying, the weekend was very much needed after a hectic first week of school. Rachel, James, Sirius, and Peter were in the library, working on their surprise for Remus. Each visit to the library, they were becoming closer and closer to their accomplishment. This was pretty much their schedule: work, study, sleep, eat, and go to the library. Luckily for Rachel, she wasn't having any more of those dreams and didn't have to stress about them until the night of November 23rd, just a couple of days before the Thanksgiving feast.

"Have we gotten further in our plans, yet? I haven't had an update for quite some time now," said the cold, high voice of Voldemort.

"I apologize for the delay, my Lord. I have a close friend who will be keeping an eye on Black on Friday the thirteenth, which happens to be in June, unfortunately, and he will get Black there. I'm not sure how to get Delancy there," Lucius informed his master.

"I have an idea. . . . You will let me know when you have possession of Black, I will take it from there," Voldemort instructed.

"Of course, My Lord," Lucius said and he left the room.

Rachel woke up, sweating and breathing heavily. They were getting further, further to capturing and killing her. Rachel jumped out of bed as quietly as possible, put on a maroon satin robe over her pajamas, put on some fluffy slippers, and snuck into the boy's dorm to grab James's Invisibility Cloak. After successfully sneaking it out of their room, Rachel put it on and made her way to the Headmaster's office.

"Lemon drop," Rachel said. The gargoyle didn't move.

"Jelly bean," Rachel tried again and succeeded. She ran up the spiral staircase, knocked on the door, and entered the office when told to.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Rachel greeted as she sat down in a chair. "I had another dream,"

"Tell me what you saw," Dumbledore said calmly. Rachel could tell that even in the wee hours of the night, Dumbledore was alert and awake.

"They're planning on luring him to that room on June 13th and Voldemort said that he had a plan to get me there," Rachel told him, recalling what had been said in the vision.

"Well, well . . . Rachel, thank you for coming to me with this. I can personally guarantee that we'll tighten security, so try to push this to the back of your mind. Remember to tell me of anymore dreams like these that you have, they're the only way to see what Voldemort's planning."

"Yes, Professor," Rachel agreed and left the Headmaster's office and went back to her dormitory, hoping to get more sleep.

A/N: Please review if you liked the chapter


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: There is some note writing and here's the guide: James, _Sirius,_ **Remus,**_** Rachel, **_Peter.

"Rachel, Rach, time to get up," Lily told Rachel the next morning. "Rachel, wake up!"

"What is it, Lily?" Rachel asked while rubbing her sore eyes.

"If you don't hurry up, you won't have time for breakfast,"

"Fine, fine, I'm getting up," Rachel said while she rolled off the bed. She quickly got up, did her morning routine, and went into the common room where Sirius was sitting, waiting for her.

"Good morning," Sirius said as she came down the stairs.

Rachel smiled back and said, "Good morning to you too,"

She walked up to him, gave him a kiss, and they walked down to the Great Hall holding hands.

"Just think, no classes tomorrow," Sirius said while walking down the halls.

"Yeah, but imagine the amount of homework they're going to give us. We'll be busy tomorrow,"

"Yeah, you're right. But at least we can spend some time together. I know you and James have been really busy with Quidditch,"

"It's taking up every once of our free time and it's absolutely ridiculous! I miss hanging out with you. Oh, and thanks for doing some more research. Should we try it out tonight or tomorrow?"

"I think we should do it tomorrow. That way it gives us a chance to do some homework first,"

"I agree. You know, it goes to show that you and James care about your future careers since you're actually studying," Rachel admitted, smiling up at his handsome face.

"It's surprising, isn't it?" he replied, then kissed her on the lips before sitting down at the Gryffindor table with the few people who hadn't gone to class yet, including James, Remus, and Peter.

"Good morning, you two," Remus said, smiling at the sight of them holding hands. Everyone was surprised by the fact that Rachel and Sirius were still dating, since he was once considered a player. Although, many girls still hoped that he would leave Rachel for one of them and kept flirting with him. Rachel didn't mind, in fact, she even thought it was funny as long as it wasn't extreme. There was one girl in particular that Rachel always kept her eye on: Cindy Walters. She was a sixth year Hufflepuff with gorgeous blonde hair and the beauty of a movie star.

"Hi, Remus," Rachel said after swallowing her toast. "James, do we have Quidditch practice tonight?"

"Yeah, Debra wants another practice tonight. She's flipping out about the fact that we need to win the next game in order to stay in the running for the Cup," James answered with a grimace. Their practices with their new Quidditch captain, Debra Mills, were always very long and grueling. Gryffindor had lost their last game to Ravenclaw and Debra had been scheduling more practices than ever because of it.

"Tonight's gonna suck," Rachel said, imagining the demanding practice tonight.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing we can do about it except try to make sure she doesn't yell at us,"

"We should probably head to History of Magic," Remus cut in. "We have five minutes,"

The five of them got up, grabbed their bags, and made their way to Binns' classroom.

In order to keep themselves awake while Remus attempted to take notes for them, Rachel, James, Sirius, and Peter started writing to each other.

_**James, what do you think about trying out experiment tomorrow night?**_

Sure, sounds good. What do you think, Sirius?

_No problem. Me and Rach were discussing it this morning and we think it's the best time._

Well, if it works, how are we going to tell Remus?

_**We could just show him if it works**_

_Yeah, how else are we going to get him to believe us_

Okay, so where should we try it? It has to be somewhere that no one will disturb us

_How about that passageway that we found on the fourth floor? That's roomy enough, I think_

Sounds good. We'll figure out the time tomorrow

_**James, I hear that you've found yourself a girlfriend.**_

Yeah, so?

_Oh thank goodness, we've been wanting you to get over Evans for a while now_

I'm not over her, she just keeps turning me down. It was hard asking out another girl.

_Couldn't have been worse than running your hand through Snape's hair_

_**Congratulations, sweetie! You've successfully made James throw up in class.**_

_He's so sensitive._

Fuck. You.

_So, what's her name?_

Fuck. You.

_She sounds nice._

_**You're such a git.**_

_I saw you laughing, Rach._

Sirius, if you ever say something like that again, I'll hex you. Her name's Lisa Shimmers.

The Hufflepuff alternative Chaser?

Yeah

_Man, she's hot! I didn't even date her yet._

_**Yet?**_

Man, Sirius, you better be careful what you say around Rach, she's looks pissed.

_Anyway, you guys won't last longer than a month._

It could last longer than a month, though. Not everyone's like you Sirius.

_Yes, I've noticed that. It's such a pity!_

You know, sometimes one just feels like killing you.

_Yeah, but I make up for it with my irresistible charm and one forgets that they want to kill me._

Don't look at me like I'm your next date. It's unnerving.

_See, James, you've completely forgotten that you wanted to kill me a minute ago._

Yeah, but Rach looks that way right now.

_Oh, shit. She looks pissed!_

**Sirius, what'd you do to Rach? I've never seen her this mad!**

Read what Sirius said about Lisa Shimmers.

**Ah, that explains it.**

_She knows I didn't mean it, right Rach?_

_**You are so lucky that I'm not hexing you into oblivion right now.**_

_You know I love you, though._

_**Gosh, I hate it when you give me that smile. I can never resist that smile.**_

_I know, that's why I do it. I love you, Rach. I know you love me._

_**Yeah, whatever.**_

_She'll get over it once I buy her the gift for our one year anniversary._

Probably, as long as you don't piss her off again.

**I can't believe your one year anniversary is in a couple of weeks.**

_I know! December 19__th_

**I just can't believe you've gone out for a year, though.**

_**I can't believe it's been a year, also.**_

I'm just surprised Sirius has been going out with someone for a year.

_The bell is going to ring in a minute._

Laughing and joking around, they went to their next class.

Rachel had never slept harder than she did that night. Their practice went horribly, due to the freezing rain and the fact that they couldn't see, not to mention that they were soaked to the bone. Unfortunately, they had another practice the night after Thanksgiving so that they could get in another practice before the Christmas break homework pile up.

The next night, while Remus was still doing some homework, Rachel, James, Sirius, and Peter made their way to the secret fourth floor passageway. Once there, Peter pulled out the book and that told them how to do this experiment and the potion they were forced to drink.

"So, who's going to go first?" James asked, nervously, hoping he wouldn't be the one.

"Not me, what if it went wrong?" Peter said.

"Wow, you guys are wimps. I'll do it," Rachel offered. "Just tell me what to do, Peter,"

"It says to repeat the words 'become an animagus' three times in your head after you swallow some of the potion," Peter instructed. James poured out a small serving of the silver potion from the vile they were carrying it in. He gave her the small spoonful and Rachel quickly drank it. Then in her head, she thought the words 'become an animagus, become an animagus, become an animagus,' and then she felt her body changing its shape. Suddenly, Rachel was on four paws, she had a long black tail, and her senses were heightened. She knew instantly that she was a cat, a black and white cat, and she loved it. Her favorite animal was a cat and she was ecstatic that that's what she became. Peter bent down and started scratching behind her ears. The sensation was strange but enjoyable as she got her motor going.

"Enough, Peter," Sirius said, looking angrily at Peter.

"She's such a pretty kitty," James said. "How do we change her back before you start petting her again, Peter?"

"All she has to do is think the words 'become a human' three times and she'll change back into her human form,"

Rachel thought those words and instantly changed back into her human form.

"Am I a black and white cat?" she asked them.

"Yeah, and you have your blue eyes," Sirius told her. "You were really pretty,"

"Thank you," she said, and she gave him a kiss.

"What was it like?" James asked her.

"It felt weird at first, but it's not bad. It doesn't hurt if that's what you're worried about,"

"Okay," James said. "I'll go next,"

James took his potion and before long, he changed into a large stag. After James turned back, Sirius did his and he changed into a massive black dog. Then Peter went, and he turned into a rat. Rachel, James, and Sirius thought that that was so funny.

"Awesome! Let's go tell Remus about it," Rachel said, feeling ecstatic at their major accomplishment. The potion they had to consume was very complicated and took a long time to brew.

The four of them hurried up to the Gryffindor common room where Remus was sitting alone, still studying.

"Remus, we've got to show you something!" Rachel shrieked as soon as the portrait allowed them inside.

"Okay, Rach, calm down a bit," Remus said, finally shaken out of his studying trance.

At his words, Rachel turned into a cat, James into a stag, Sirius into a dog, and Peter into a rat. After Remus sat there, absolutely shocked for a minute, they changed back into their human forms.

"How—wha—when? How have you done this?" Remus asked, almost at loss for words.

"We've been working on it since the start of our second year," James announced.

"Why did you do this? It must've taken a lot of work," Remus said.

"We wanted to come with you during your transformations to help keep you in line," Sirius answered.

"Yeah, 'cause I really needed it," Remus said sarcastically.

"You know what we should do? We should come up with nicknames that we can call each other," Peter said.

"Yeah, we should," Rachel agreed.

"Since Rachel wants to, I do too," Sirius said, smiling at his girlfriend.

"You know, Rach, you have way too much control over him. Maybe we could use this to our advantage. . . ." James said.

"Well, since Rach is a cat, we should call her Whiskers," Sirius suggested.

"That sounds all right to me," Rachel said.

"Okay, and since Remus has issues with the full moon, we should call him Moony," James said.

"Peter should be Wormtail, Sirius should be Padfoot, and James should be Prongs," Rachel said.

"Wow, you came up with stuff quickly," James said to her.

"My mind works in mysterious ways that you could never attempt to understand,"

"So true,"

"So, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Whiskers. . . . I like it. It has a nice ring to it," Sirius said.

"I agree. Now let's study a bit for the Transfiguration quiz tomorrow," Rachel said. They all agreed.

Very soon, the day of December 19th was upon them, and Sirius and Rachel were preparing for their anniversary date. They were very excited at the accomplishment and also because Christmas break had started. Tomorrow, they would be parting ways to spend time with their family.

Rachel was fussing over what she should wear. She narrowed her outfit down to two different dresses: a dark red halter one that fell at her knees or a dark blue halter dress that fell just above her knees. She had a pair of black boots that she would wear with the outfit, but couldn't decide on a dress.

"I think you should wear the blue one," Lily said after Rachel's plea for help. "It'll bring out your eyes, plus the color looks fabulous on you,"

"You think?"

"Yeah, go with the blue one,"

"Thanks, Lily, you're the greatest!" Rachel said and she gave her other best friend a quick hug before running into the bathroom to change.

After an hour of preparing, Rachel had made her brown hair wavy, put on some makeup, gotten dressed, and put on her silver necklace that she had received from Sirius the previous year. Everything looked absolutely perfect. Rachel dug in her bag for a minute to find the small gift: it was wrapped in gold wrapping paper and had a gold bow on it.

When Rachel had double-checked everything, she started down the steps to the common room where Sirius was supposed to meet her. Instead of Sirius, the ones in the common room were James, Remus, and Peter. They smiled as she walked down the stairs, but she was getting a little anxious.

"You look gorgeous," Remus said as they gave her all hugs.

"Thanks, Remus. Where's Sirius? We were supposed to meet here," Rachel asked.

"Well, my lady," James said, suddenly taking on a much more mature tone. "I am supposed to accompany you to a certain place that you shall be having your date. Unfortunately, we need to go under the Invisibility Cloak, but I don't think you'll mind."

James threw the Cloak over them, held out his arm for Rachel to hook onto, and they left the Gryffindor tower and went down a passageway on the seventh floor. After a minute of walking together, they came upon a door that Rachel had never seen before, even though she had walked by the area many times before. James took off the Cloak and opened the door for Rachel and said, "Your date awaits you,"

Rachel walked into a small and cozy round room. It was filled with candles and red roses. There was a small square table covered by a white tablecloth and the table had two chairs that reminded Rachel of fancy restaurant chairs. The entire room was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. Then, she happened to notice Sirius standing by the table in a suit, watching her as she took in the entire room.

"This is amazing," Rachel said breathlessly. "Did you do all of this?"

"Well, this is called the Room of Requirement and it adjusts to the users need. I set up the candles and flowers but the rest was already set up for me when I arrived," Sirius told her.

Rachel, absolutely beaming, walked over to her handsome and well-dressed boyfriend, wrapped her arms around his neck, and softly said, "Happy anniversary,"

"Happy anniversary," Sirius whispered back, and then he kissed her with more passion than ever before. They stood there for many minutes, enjoying each other's company, before Rachel pulled away to catch her breath. "You look absolutely breathtaking," he told her.

"Thanks, it took me a while to figure this outfit out. If you don't believe me, you can just ask Lily. She was there when I experience my minor panic attack about my outfit," Rachel told him, laughing at her recollection of worrying so much.

"Well, you look beautiful in any outfit," he complimented her.

"What a line," Rachel joked, "but I appreciate it anyway. So, I skipped dinner, what are we having to eat since I see a table set for two?"

"We are having Tilapia with New Orleans style rice along with some champagne,"

"Aren't we a little young to have alcohol?"

"Yeah, that's why it's only one glass for each of us, so we don't become hammered and do something stupid," Sirius told her. He walked over to one of the chairs and pulled it out for her, indicating that she sit down. She obeyed and then Sirius took his chair across the table from her. Rachel set her present on the ground next to her chair.

"So, should we exchange gifts first or shall we eat?" he asked her.

"I'm absolutely starving, so let's eat first," she answered.

Sirius flicked his wand and their plates filled with the course Sirius had described earlier. They sat there, eating, drinking, and having small talk until they had both finished their meals.

"Time for gifts," Rachel said excitedly. She loved getting presents.

Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box. He opened it and held the box out to her so she could see what was inside it. It was a golden ring with a pink leaf and a green leaf connected with some vines, and in the middle there was a ruby.

"Before you get any ideas, I would like to inform you that this is a promise ring, just in case you though otherwise," Sirius said quickly.

"Sirius, it's absolutely stunning," Rachel told him.

Sirius removed the ring, grabbed Rachel's left hand, and started sliding the ring onto her ring finger.

"With this ring, I promise to respect you, love you, and be there for you. I love you, Rachel."

"I love you too, Sirius."

Then they started kissing again. Soon afterward, Rachel was getting very tired and insisted that they get back to the dorms to get some sleep. Rachel and Sirius left the Room of Requirement holding hands and both smiling. Sirius walked Rachel to the stairs and parted ways. As Rachel got into her pajamas and got into bed, she was much happier than she had ever been in her life.

After Lily practically dragged her out of bed, Rachel got her stuff packed up and made her way towards the Gryffindor fireplace that she would be using to get home. Five minutes later, Rachel was in her living room and ran up the stairs to drop off her stuff. She came back down and greeted her parents. They were both surprisingly excited and Rachel finally asked,

"What's going on? You two are practically skipping,"

"Well, we got tickets for the Oakland vs. Denver game tomorrow!" her dad answered.

"And no, we can't use any magic to affect how the game turns out," her mom added quickly.

"This is so great!" Rachel squealed and she ran to hug both of her parents. The Oakland Raiders were Rachel's favorite football team. Since the Raiders had visited the Super Bowl a few years ago, they've been in pretty bad shape. Now, they're doing extremely well and might even make it to the Super Bowl.

The rest of the day flew right by and before Rachel knew it, she was getting dressed for the football game. She put on a black Raiders jersey that had the name of her favorite player on it because their new quarterback was awesome, put on some jeans, put a little face paint on, and made her way downstairs. Since Danielle and Angela weren't fans of football, they were staying with Lily's parents for the night.

After the game, Rachel kept reminiscing about the game: the gigantic amount of Raiders fans, the incredible plays, the final score of 20-3 and Oakland had won. Thinking of these happy thoughts, Rachel fell asleep, and had another dreamless sleep.

Rachel didn't have much time to relax though, the semi-finals for her ballroom competition were coming up and Rachel spent most of her free time with her dance partner, Drew, at the studio practicing their routines. She even had to go in during Christmas, due to the fact that the competition was the next day and they had to make sure that everything was perfect, no flaws. Their hard work paid off though, they left the competition in first place after a romantic rumba and an elegant waltz. The finals wouldn't be until the summer so they didn't have to worry about that.

After the dancing, Rachel had to finish the large amount of homework their teachers had assigned them for the holiday. She spent the rest of her days off working on it, knowing that the worst had yet to come.


	11. Chapter 11

She was very grateful to get back to Hogwarts, to the joking around, and most importantly, her friends. Rachel arrived in the Gryffindor common room, where James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were already sitting. To Rachel's surprise, Sirius was chatting with Cindy Walters, and they were sitting awfully close together. So, just to throw it in Sirius's face, Rachel greeted, "Hi, guys,"

Instead of greeting Sirius first, she went over to James and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then proceeded to do the same with Remus and Peter. By the time it was Sirius's turn, he was standing up and looking slightly irritated. Rachel gave him a quick kiss on the lips and said, "Hi, Sirius,"

"Hi, Rach," he replied back.

"Oh, you guys, let's go up to the dorm. I thought of an awesome thing to use on Snape,"

They rushed up to the boy's dormitory, where the guys sat on their own beds and Rachel sat on Sirius's. Sirius instantly put one arm around her when she sat down.

"Okay, I thought that we should use that weird spell thing to make it so that whenever Sirius walked into a room, Snape would say out loud 'Sirius is one sexy beast!'"

"Yeah, I know what charm you're talking about," Remus said.

"So, what'd you guys think?"

"That would be hilarious!" James said, laughing. Rachel could already tell that he was imagining it.

"Sweetie, would you be able to not throw up?" Rachel asked Sirius, pouting.

"Anything for you," Sirius said, then gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Like I said, Rach, you've got _way_ too much control over him," James told her.

"Yeah, I know," she admitted.

"Well, we've still got to study for our exams, so when shall we do it?" Peter asked.

"I think we should do it sometime during breakfast and make it last through the classes that day," James suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Rachel said.

They spent the rest of the night joking around and laughing until Rachel left to go to bed, dreaming of the laughs they would be experiencing soon.

The next morning, the five of them dressed quickly and went down to the Great Hall to wait for Snape. Soon after they had started to eat some food, Snape walked in, hair greasier than ever. Apparently the shampoo jinx they played on him had not been very effective. James turned around, made sure that no one was in the way, pointed his wand at Snape's back, and then he whispered, "_Sevillas 'Sirius is one sexy beast!'"_

"I can't wait to see what the teachers think of that!" Rachel said. She was very excited about this prank. Even Remus, who didn't join in their pranks very often, due to the fact that he was a Prefect, seemed energized about this one.

"I guess we'll see what happens later," Remus said.

They had to wait until Transfiguration until they had class with the Slytherins. Rachel, James, Remus, and Peter came to class early. Sirius, who was hiding, was supposed to wait until Snape had sat down in his seat before making his interest. The moment that Snape had sat down in his usual seat with the Slytherins, Sirius walked in, and Snape said as he turned around to see who the person was, "Sirius is one sexy beast!"

As soon as the words had finished leaving Snape's mouth, he looked absolutely revolted. Students in the class started laughing, except for the Slytherins, who were wondering why this had occurred. Sirius sat down and joined in with the other four, who were practically falling out of their seats with laughter. Unfortunately, McGonagall wasn't able to witness the event and came in while the students were laughing. Although, the minute she walked in, everyone went quiet. McGonagall had a way of getting your attention and keeping it.

The last two lessons were also with the Slytherins and Snape once again said those words to the students. After their final class, Rachel said, wiping tears out of her eyes, "That never got old!"

"Yes, the Marauders and Marauderette strike again!" James said to them.

"When did you come up with that, Prongs?" Sirius asked him.

"Just now," he answered.

They were unable to perform anymore pranks during the next few weeks, though, since they were staying up until the wee hours of the morning doing their studying and assignments. This wore everyone down, especially Rachel and James, who were suffering even more during Quidditch practices. Even though they were practicing well, Debra kept working them harder because the game that could put Gryffindor in the finals was closing in on them very quickly. Suddenly, it was the first Saturday of March and it was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Whoever won this would be playing against Slytherin in the finals.

The entire team was very nervous as they sat there listening to Debra's pep talk. Usually, it worked, but everyone seemed too worried about the game to be listening. Conditions were very tough: it was pouring rain and it was extremely windy. They had used a Water Repelling charm on their faces, but they still sat there, pale, anticipating the moment when they would have to enter the stadium . . . and then it came.

The Gryffindor team in their red uniforms walked out onto the field, broomsticks in hand, to face the Ravenclaws, who were in blue uniforms. Rachel heard the whistle from Madam Hooch and pushed off the ground into the wet and cold sky, hoping to find the Snitch soon. She circled the field for what felt like an hour, soaked to the bone, shivering on her broom, and then she saw what she had been looking for: the golden Snitch fluttering by one of the Gryffindor hoops. Urging her Firebolt faster, she sped toward the Snitch and grabbed it, hoping that it wouldn't slip out of her grip from the rain. The whistle came that signaled the end of the game and the Gryffindor team flew down into their locker room, where they were jumping up and down and hugging one another. They were in the finals for the fourth year in a row.

"Party in the common room!" someone shouted after the team changed into some warm and dry clothes. The team went up together to the Gryffindor tower together, arm in arm, chatting rapidly and cheering about their victory. As soon as the portrait of the fat lady opened, there was an explosion of cheering as Rachel and the rest of her teammates were dragged in. People shoved butterbeers into their hands and toasted to a Gryffindor win.

Rachel had never seen the house so excited about a game before, even after the numerous wins of the finals they had had over the past few years. She went looking for Sirius, intending on enjoying the festivities with him and her friends, but instead found him in a corner, whispering suggestively and flirtatiously in Cindy's ear. Cindy giggled girlishly and started stroking Sirius's arm and it looked like he enjoyed it. Fury rose up inside of Rachel as fast as a rocket and she had to fight the urge to hex him behind his back. Sirius glanced towards the huge crowd surrounding most of the Gryffindor team and saw Rachel standing there, watching him, fury and shock written across her face. His eyes went wide as he realized what she was witnessing.

"Rach," he said and he started toward her, but Rachel slammed her butterbeer onto one of the tables and stormed out of the common room. She started off walking, but then ran into an empty classroom, fighting back the tears that tried falling from her startling blue eyes. Rachel could hear Sirius running after her, calling her name. She tried locking the door but was unsuccessful as Sirius pushed open the door.

"Rachel, that was not what it looked like—" Sirius started.

"Oh yeah, then what the hell was that?" Rachel asked, her voice rising, rage dripping from every word.

"I was just talking to her," Sirius persisted, but once again Rachel cut him off.

"No way in hell was that just talking! You know, Sirius, that's just," Rachel yelled, but then stopped. She was so furious at him that she was speechless. "We've been having problems lately!"

"Well then, let's talk about these problems. Tell me what these problems are."

"Well, for starters, you've been spending so much time with Cindy, acting all flirtatious and crap, not spending very much time with me, and all of us together does not count! You're so distant now, and normally I don't mind a little flirting but this has gone over the edge!"

"How can we fix this, then, Rach?" Sirius said. He was very frustrated but wanted to work through this.

"I don't think we can," Rachel told him, sounding very tired indeed.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, hoping that this wasn't what it seemed to be.

"I—I can't deal with this right now! I'll talk to you later," she explained, completely worn down by the raging amount of anger that had boiled up inside of her earlier. Rachel stormed out of the room, on the verge of tears, and ran back to the tower and into her dormitory, ignoring the invites to hang out and enjoy the party. She curled up on her bed, still fighting the tears that longed to be released, and sat there, waiting for her fury to die down.

After a half an hour of sitting by herself, she decided that she would work through these issues with Sirius, on the sole fact that she loved him and didn't want to lose him.

She pried herself off the bed and went into the common room, where the celebration was still going strong. Rachel looked around the room, searching for him, but when she found him, she greatly regretted even considering giving him another chance. He was in the same corner with Cindy, arms wrapped around each other, kissing like there was no tomorrow.

Rachel simply just turned around and instead of going into her room, she went into the boy's dormitory and sat down on James's bed, waiting for one of her friends to come and cheer her up. She sat there, curled up in a ball, and started to let the tears come free. She knew that Sirius was very drunk due to the numerous bottles of firewhisky on the table next to him, but that didn't change a thing; he had still betrayed her. There weren't as many tears as Rachel had believed there were, but she knew that they would be coming in waves over the next few hours. In a minute or so, Remus came into the room, looking happy but also tired. He was startled to see Rachel in their room, and even more shocked to see her crying. Remus rushed over to the bed, sat down next to her, and asked in a worried voice, "Rach, honey, what's wrong?"

"Sirius! Sirius is what's wrong,"

"Why? What happened?"

"After the game, I saw him whispering suggestively to Cindy Walters, and then we got into a fight, and then when I decided to work things out, I went downstairs and saw him k-k-kissing Cindy!"

"Oh, Rachel," Remus said, with pity and comfort in his voice, pulled her closer to him, and allowed her to start sobbing onto his shoulder. He pulled her into a hug and kept whispering the words, "It's okay, it's alright," while gently stroking her beautiful brown hair.

They sat there for quite awhile, until Rachel pulled away a little bit, mopped her eyes with her sleeve, and looked into Remus' face and told him, "Thank you for being such a good friend,"

Before they knew it or could stop it, they sat there, making out on the bed. They did that for some time until they heard someone clearing their throat at the doorway. Rachel and Remus quickly broke away and saw that James was standing in the doorway, a blank expression on his face.

"Um, well, I'll see you later, Moony," Rachel said, hastily, and hurried out of the room and to her bed, wondering what she had just done and how much damage it would cause.


	12. Chapter 12

"What the hell was going on, Moony?" James questioned. James had summoned Peter into the dorm and he was sitting on his bed, looking thoroughly confused.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Well, I walk in here, intending on going to bed after once again being turned down by Lily, and I see Moony making out with Rachel!" James told him on the edge of shouting.

"James, please keep this down! Rachel and I really don't want Sirius to know," Remus begged.

"That his girlfriend was cheating on him with one of his best friends? You really don't want him to know?" James retorted sarcastically.

"Listen, James, that's not how it happened. She didn't just come in here and decide to kiss me, that's not how it works,"

"Well then, tell us how it works," Peter said to Remus.

"Okay, I came in here to go to bed, but Rachel was already in here. She was curled up in a ball and crying her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she and Sirius got into a fight earlier and she saw him kissing Cindy Walters afterwards,"

"After the argument?" Peter asked.

"No, during," James said sarcastically.

"Anyway, I came and gave her a hug and before I knew we were making out," Remus finished.

"Sirius cheated on Rach?" James asked.

"Yeah," Remus confirmed, feeling angry with one of his best friends.

"I can't believe he would do that," Peter told them.

"I know. I mean, he was in love with her. I've never seen him this crazy about someone," James agreed.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Sirius greeted at the door. He looked like he was trying to be in a good mood, but was honestly depressed.

"Sirius Orion Black, you son of a—" Remus greeted and started toward Sirius, but James and Peter held him back. They couldn't help but notice that Sirius's face had drained of color.

"Gosh, Moony, what's ticked you off?" Sirius tried to act like nothing was wrong, but it wasn't working very well.

"Well, let's see, that you made your girlfriend start bawling her eyes out because she saw you kissing Cindy Walters!" Remus answered.

"Oh . . . that,"

"Padfoot, what the hell were you thinking?" James demanded.

"Well, for starters, I was exceptionally drunk, but I've done a Sobering Charm, which is why I have not collapsed and am able to remember what has happened. Plus, I thought that maybe we had broken up,"

"She was looking for you to work things out," Remus told him.

"She w—" Sirius started but James cut him off.

"Look, maybe you should talk to her in the morning once she's had a chance to cool down," he suggested.

"Yeah, I'll do that,"

The dorm had never been as quiet as the four of them tried to fall asleep.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Rach, sweetie, do you want to stay here today?" Lily asked her best friend softly.

Rachel opened her swollen eyes a tiny bit and saw Lily looking down at her. She nodded her head. Last night, Rachel had told Lily everything that had happened.

"Okay, I'll bring you some toast," and Lily left the room.

Rachel curled up in a ball with her sheets and tried to alleviate that misery she was feeling.

"Rach?" came a soft voice from the doorway. Rachel rolled over and saw Sirius standing at the door, looking hesitant, as if he was waiting for her to hex him.

"Go away," she told him with the strongest voice she could muster.

"Please Rach, I love you so much. If I could take back what I did I would in a heartbeat, but I can't do that. I mean, how crazy must I have been to do something like that? I haven't done anything like that since we've been going out."

Surprisingly, Rachel didn't do anything when she felt Sirius sit on the edge of her bed. He leaned over her and tried to kiss her, but she slapped him away.

"No, Sirius, you can't just kiss me and make everything all better, make it all go away. It doesn't work like that!"

"Rachel, can we please just talk about this?"

"No! When I wanted to talk you had your tongue shoved down Cindy's throat!" Rachel rejected in a louder voice. Her anger was flaring again and it showed in her voice.

"Well when I wanted to talk you just walked away!"

"That didn't give you the right to start making out with the first thing that started flirting with you!" she yelled back.

"Can't we work through this? I thought we could get through anything,"

"I don't think so, Sirius. You're a totally different person to me now. I used to think of you as someone who would _never_ hurt me, ever!"

"I thought we had broken up!"

"Number one: no! Number two: get out before I hex you into another universe!"

"Fine!" and the door slammed. She immediately felt the tears coming again and fought them back. Sadness wasn't the only thing she was feeling, she was also guilty and she wanted to apologize to someone. Rachel dragged herself out of bed and walked across the hall to the boy's dorm, intent on apologizing to Remus. She opened the door and was startled to see all of the guys in there, Sirius glaring at her.

"Um, Remus, can I talk to you real quick?" she asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, sure, over here," he said, and beckoned her over to one of the more private corners of the room.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night," she told him quietly. "I didn't mean to put you in that situation,"

"It's okay, you were upset, and I'm happy that I was able to comfort you," he accepted, "even if it wasn't in the smartest way,"

"So we're okay?"

"Of course,"

"Does he know about last night?"

"Oh, there's no way I'd tell him about last night. He'd hex me into oblivion,"

"Yeah, maybe it's better that way. Even though there's practically no hope left for me and him, I still don't want to become the bad guy and I certainly don't want him mad at you,"

Then she left.

She went into her room and curled up with her blankets, intent on staying there for the day.

During the next few days, she stayed in her room, only getting out of bed to use the bathroom. Lily brought her the homework and spent most of her free time hanging out with Rachel. James, Remus, and Peter dropped in on occasion and every time Sirius wanted to join them, she absolutely refused to have him in the room. The first time she was out of bed longer than five minutes was for Quidditch practice, which wasn't until a week after the previous Quidditch match. From then on, though, she stayed out of bed and acted as normal as possible with her friends, including Sirius. Soon after Rachel had rejoined the world again, James, Remus, and Peter immediately learned to not leave Sirius and Rachel alone together. Every time it happened, Sirius looked nervous, like Rachel would still consider hexing him, and Rachel almost had steam coming out of her ears and could've probably breathed fire if she had opened her mouth, not to mention they would start fighting with each other.

Now that Sirius was single, hordes of girls were constantly throwing themselves at him, but surprisingly, he turned down every one of them, including Cindy Walters. Rachel had stopped wearing the necklace that Sirius had given her during Christmas last year, but absolutely refused to take off the promise ring that she had received for her anniversary. Many people found these actions quite strange and came to the conclusion that maybe the two weren't completely over each other yet, but couldn't admit it. One night in the middle of June, though, when they thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"Well, she just came up to me the other day and started kissing me!" Remus exclaimed when discussing a Ravenclaw girl. "Now, she completely avoids me! What if I'm a bad kisser?"

"Moony, trust me, you're not a bad kisser! I certainly would know and I'd recommend you to a friend," Rachel assured him, not registering what she said at first until she saw the look on Sirius's face.

"H-how would you know that Moony is a good kisser?" he managed to choke out.

"Um, well, that night, um, Remus was comforting me, and one thing led to another," Rachel told him uncomfortably.

"There's nothing going on between us, though. It was just something in the moment," Remus said quickly.

"You made out with one of my best friends!" Sirius cried out, looking very angry. James and Peter stopped their homework and looked up, waiting for the new argument to start.

"Well, that was after you shoved your tongue down someone else's throat!" Rachel shouted back.

"You're one to talk!"

For the next ten minutes, Rachel and Sirius yelled at each other, but cooled down, and started studying again, acting as if nothing had happened, as they always did after one of their episodes. Unfortunately, during Transfiguration, Sirius and Rachel sat by each other and started bickering soon into McGonagall's O.W.L. speech.

"Rachel, Sirius, detention! See me after class!" she told them forcefully, effectively ending their arguing.

They sat there, not talking or even looking at each other, for the rest of class and saw McGonagall after the bell rang. Tonight at 8 o'clock they would be working with Filch in the dungeons cleaning cauldrons.

That night, Rachel and Sirius walked down to the dungeons chatting like friends, regardless of the obvious ill feelings they still had for each other. Deep down, they hated being that way, but never did anything about it.

A couple of hours later, the two took a shortcut after cleaning numerous cauldrons. Their hands were slightly blistered and extremely sore. Instead of trying to make small talk, they walked in a comfortable, yet not comfortable silence that only the two of them could achieve. Both stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed a large and mysterious looking stone door in front of them.

"Has that always been there?" Sirius asked.

"No, this is the first time I've seen it, and we've taken this path hundreds of times," she replied, feeling just as flabbergasted as him.

"Well, let's see where it goes," he said, opening the stone door with his wand. Before she could say another word, Sirius walked into the room.

"You know, Sirius," she said, running in after him, "I really think we should get out of her—"

Her statement was cut off by the door slamming shut behind them, leaving them in a thick darkness.


	13. Chapter 13

"What the hell did you do?" she shouted at him after Sirius lit his wand.

"I didn't do anything, Rach, regardless of what you think," he spat back.

Not wanting to get into yet another argument, Rachel also lit her wand and the two sets of eyes looked around at this chamber-like room. Cobwebs were draped in different corners of the room, unlit torches were on the gray and ancient looking stone walls, and the wooden floor beneath their feet was creaking with every step.

"What is this place?" she questioned, voice echoing through the creepy room.

"I'm not sure, but it's kind of spooky and eerie, isn't it?"

Rachel agreed silently. They had a strong silent communication that only the strongest of bonds could achieve. She raised her wand a little higher and saw an engraving in the wall. Slowly, she walked forward and read what it said.

"Friday the 13th, this room mysteriously shows, waiting to bring its next victims into its clutches."

Below it were various engravings looked to be made by fingernails; though whoever marked the wall must've been terrified, for it looked as though the person was trying to claw their way out of the room. Chills went down Rachel's spine as she realized that terror hadn't even begun yet.

"Padfoot, come look at this," she called to Sirius who was looking at the opposite wall. At her words, he jogged over, raising his wand toward the words also.

"Well that's interesting," he said in a soft and thoughtful voice.

"I'm seeing if the door's open," she informed him, running to the door, anxious to get out of there. The door proved to be thoroughly locked after all of the unlocking spells that Rachel could possibly think of failed.

"I take it we're locked in here?" called Sirius who was still standing at the wall with the engravings.

"No, I found a way out. I'm just staying for my own entertainment," she exclaimed sarcastically, walking towards him.

"Every single girl except for you and Lily would kill to be stuck in a room with me,"

Rachel opened her mouth intending to throw an insult but closed it before the words formed.

"Anyway, I think he should explore a bit more. I saw a door across the room." Sirius suggested.

"Sure, we have nothing better to do," Rachel agreed and together they walked toward another olden door. Sirius pushed it open and Rachel stuck her wand in, lighting up another dark, damp, but smaller room. At the same time, they walked through the entrance.

Rachel slapped her hand up to her scar which was prickling quite uncomfortably. Sirius looked toward her with a questioning look on his handsome face.

"My scar is a little painful, but it's nothing," she responded, shrugging, trying not to act worried. Sirius nodded once, but Rachel could tell that he didn't believe the last phrase.

Once both were all the way in the room, the door slammed shut. Their heads jerked back to look at it, and before they turned back, the circular stone floor shot down like an elevator. Rachel clutched tightly to Sirius who held her just as tight while the floor slammed down onto the ground.

Rachel fell on top of Sirius as the impact of stone hitting stone knocked them over. The two stayed like that for a tiny moment, looking into each other's eyes, then they quickly stood up.

"Great, now where are we?" Rachel said with irritation and a tiny bit of fear in her voice.

"I'm not sure, but that message in that first room is making me a little nervous now," he responded.

In one end of the room, there was an old and decrepit looking lever. Rachel couldn't tell what it did, but it made her nervous for some reason. Unfortunately, Sirius, out of pure curiosity, walked over to it and pulled it.

"No, Sirius, don't!" she shouted, but it was too late. He had pulled the lever and there was a creaking noise from above them.

Panic rushing through her veins, she slowly walked over to where Sirius was standing, not taking her eyes off the darkness that was above them. Simultaneously, she saw two silver streaks in the air and screamed. Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her to the end of the room. Just as he thought he pulled her out of danger, they saw two large axes swinging back and forth, slowly lowering themselves. The blades were gigantic and covered in dried blood.

"Oh god," she whispered, watching the blades edge closer and closer. She raised her wand at them, but no spells were coming to her mind; it was completely blank. The axes were coming closer and closer with each fast and shallow breath that she took. When they were just seconds from being claimed by the chamber axes, Sirius shot a spell at them, causing them to go flying into the opposite wall and stay there.

Rachel stood there, hardly believing what had just happened. Her face burst into a smile.

"Good thinking, Sirius," she said cheerfully.

Her scar was prickling painfully.

Sirius started to walk towards one of the two doors in the room, but stopped when Rachel said, "Wait! What day is it?"

"Friday the thirteenth," he answered. "Why?"

Rachel's eyes widened in panic.

"Crap, crap, crap, oh crap," she kept muttering.

"Rach?" Sirius said, now standing in front of her. His gray eyes bore into her blue ones. "What's going on?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe I even allowed us to go through that door!"

"Why? There was nothing to fear from a door,"

"No! You don't understand! This is the room they were talking about!"

"What do you mean? Who are you talking about?" Sirius demanded, getting angry.

"Voldemort! Voldemort and his Death Eater, Lucius!" she shouted, also feeling irate.

Sirius's face paled. "Please explain," he said in a forced calm.

"Last August, I had a vision. I was able to see things through Voldemort's point of view. I told Dumbledore about it and he said that because of my scar, I have a strange connection to Voldemort and I can occasionally hear his plans and feel his emotions! They were planning on kidnapping you in a mysterious room on Friday the thirteenth and now we _both_ came in here voluntarily! They were hoping that I would come and rescue you!"

"So you think Voldemort is in a room that could be accessed through that door?"

"I'm sure of it. My scar was prickling earlier because he was in one of these rooms. I'm positive that there are more rooms than the ones we've seen or that are beyond the two rooms that lead out of here. Voldemort is going to be waiting until we enter that room,"

Sirius let out a nasty word and threw his hands up in anger. He turned back to her and whispered, "Why haven't you told me about this?"

"I was terrified!" Rachel explained on the verge of tears. "I was absolutely terrified of this little power thing I have now!"

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Rachel toppled over clutching her scar. Though no sound was escaping her lips, Sirius could tell that she was in incredible pain. Finally she relaxed her body and looked into Sirius's face.

"He's close. I could feel it," she sighed with fear in her voice. "We have two options: we separate and each check out a different passage and we know that someone will live because one of these ways is an exit, or we go together and pray that one of us gets out of this alive."

"We'll go together," Sirius said immediately.

"No," she spoke softly. "I've already lost a brother to Voldemort; I don't want to lose you."

All of the anger and hatred between them was gone.

"If we go together and find Voldemort, then he'll kill you on the spot. If we go separate ways and you still stumble upon him, he'll keep you alive to get to me."

"No, Rach, I'm not goin—" he pleaded.

"Sirius, don't argue with me!" There was a fire in her eyes that Sirius had only seen when they got into nasty fights. "I'll take the door on the left."

Rachel stood up and started toward the door, but a hand grabbed her arm. She looked up into the gray eyes she adored so much.

"Why won't you just let me go with you?" he asked angrily.

"Because I love you too much,"

Sirius blinked feeling stunned. He hadn't been expecting that answer.

"I love you too," he whispered and brought her into a fiery, yet romantic kiss.

They stood there kissing for several minutes, afraid to let go for fear of it being their last kiss. Finally, Rachel pulled away with tears in her eyes and ran through the left door, leaving Sirius to go through the right.

Rachel wiped away the tears that were now falling as she ran down the webbed and narrow passageway. Her wand was held out in front of her giving her the ability to see what lay a few feet ahead in the tunnel. The lightning bolt scar on her forehead started to burn painfully, but she ignored it, determined to keep running. She shoved open another wooden door and stopped in her tracks when her eyes settled upon what was sitting in the room.

"Hello, Rachel,"

"How nice of you to finally join me here," the voice of Voldemort said.

"You know, to be completely honest, you're the first person I'd invite to a tea party, so I'm equally delighted to see your ugly face," Rachel spat in a fake happy voice, a smirk crawling onto her face.

"I'm surprised that Black isn't here. Surely he didn't leave you on your own," Voldemort replied smoothly.

"You weren't quite expecting the both of us to come waltzing into this tunnel of chambers, am I right?"

"I must admit that that action did surprise a little, but no matter. You're here anyway, and now you will join your stubborn brother. Time to die, Rachel," he whispered, raising his wand.

"_Stupefy!"_ she yelled.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _he shouted.

Red light hit green light and a tiny line of gold connected them as the wand's owners looked at it with shock and amazement. Golden webs emerged from the light and formed a dome over Rachel and Voldemort. The gold light was edging closer to Rachel's wand, which was shaking furiously in her hand. Using as much strength as possible, Rachel forced the light to Voldemort's wand.

A solid looking ghost burst from Voldemort's wand and formed next to Rachel. She turned in head and looked into the face of her dead brother.

"Tommy?" she choked out.

"Of course it's me, Rach. When you break the connection, some of the other spirits and I will form a shield around you, forcing Voldemort to leave. Once he leaves, you need to run to the other passageway; it will lead you to the seventh floor. By the way, I demanded that I would meet any guy who took out my baby sister and I absolutely approve of Sirius."

Rachel smiled through her cascading tears. Getting the courage, she broke the connection. Many spirits formed a dome around Rachel. Voldemort kept trying to shoot curse after curse at her, but all rebounded and almost hit their shooter. After a few minutes, Voldemort disappeared. The ghostly dome vanished and Rachel ran as fast as her legs would carry her to the other door. Once she found it, she continued to run fast, even though her legs were starting to feel like jelly. She shoved open a door and crashed right into Sirius.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sirius. Are we on the seventh floor?"

"Yeah, I was waiting for you. I was actually just about to go and get Dumbledore, but now you've burst through the door."

"Sirius, honey, please bring me to the common room," she requested before collapsing.

Voices were drifting through the room as Rachel woke up and saw that she was lying on her bed. She cracked open her eyes and saw Lily sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as Sirius explained to Dumbledore what had happened.

"After that, though sir, I'm not sure what happened." Sirius finished.

"I found him," she voice cracked.

Lily released her breath and ran over to Rachel giving her a bone-cracking hug.

"Okay, Lily, I'm happy to see you too, but I really need to explain this," Rachel gasped out.

Lily released her grip on Rachel and sat down next to her.

"He was waiting for me. Then we did a spell at the same time and the two beams met. I saw Tommy. He told me that the spirits would put up a shield and it made Voldemort disappear,"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Thank you, Rachel. I have to attend to some related business and hope that you feel better soon. You don't want to be absent for one of your O.W.L.s." Dumbledore said with a smile and left the room.

"Great, more tests coming up," Rachel scowled, earning a couple of laughs from Lily and Sirius.

The OWLs were surprisingly easy except for the History of Magic one, due to the fact that practically everyone fell asleep in that class, therefore not paying attention. Naturally, the easiest one for them was Defense Against the Dark Arts because it was their favorite class.

During a couple of her lessons, the instructors that came to Hogwarts kept staring at her scar which made her uncomfortable still, but she was getting used to it. Anyone that she hadn't met before couldn't help but look at it. It really annoyed her and most people could tell because they would avert their eyes uncomfortably.

Students were informed that they would be getting their results sometime in July and that they were free to do as they chose for the last week of school. All of the fifth and seventh year students were relieved at the pressure of exams being over and took much pleasure over walking around outside. The Marauders and Rachel always sat by a large tree next to the lake. The giant squid would occasionally send up a couple of its tentacles and some first and second year girls would toss food to it.

James kept asking out Lily everyday, but he was lucky if he got away without being hexed by either Lily or Snape. Of course, the others thought that this was extremely hilarious and James would scowl at them.


	14. Chapter 14

"Sirius, wake up!" Rachel said into her boyfriend's ear one morning during the summer. He remained still. Walking towards the bathroom, Rachel said to herself, "Fine, he leaves me no choice,"

She filled up a small bucket of icy cold water, brought it to the door of the guest room in which Sirius was staying at Rachel's house, and pulled out her wand to levitate the bucket. Rachel did and charmed the water over to the bed and gracefully dumped the bucket of water onto his head. Quickly, she ran away from the room as a scream filled the house. "RACHEL!"

Laughing, Rachel walked back into his room, not caring that she was only in a black silk lingerie gown, and told him, "Well, you wouldn't wake up, you gave me no choice,"

Suddenly, she became aware of the fact that she was almost naked. Blushing, she started backing up from the 'You look hot' look that Sirius was giving her and said hastily, "Well, I'm going, um, well—" and left the room, intent on putting on some pants. A couple of minutes later, after she had matching silk pants that had fuzzy leg bottoms, she went into the guest room where Sirius was attempting to dry his hair with his wand; it was not going well. Not only that, but Rachel couldn't help but notice that he was only in boxers.

"Want me to do it?" she asked, feeling a little pity for him as he unsuccessfully attempted to dry it off again. Sirius loved his hair almost as much as he loved Rachel.

"Yes, please," he answered, giving her a puppy dog look, and she came over and performed a Drying Charm. Now with a huge smile plastered over his face, he said, "Good morning, my love," and kissed her on the lips.

"Well, I like that greeting more than the one a few minutes ago," she laughed.

"Well, you know how I am about my hair,"

"Anyway," she informed him. "My parents took Danielle and Angela to the fair. They won't be back until tonight so I guess it's just you and me for the day,"

She smiled at him, but then it faltered when she thought of the last time her parents had left her at home . . . Tommy, her brother, had died trying to protect her from Voldemort.

Apparently, Sirius could tell that she was thinking about that event and pulled her into a hug and whispered, "Don't worry, he won't come today,"

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Dumbledore increased the protective charms on the house tenfold. There's no way Voldemort can enter this house," he explained.

"You're right, I know you're right. I just can't help but think about it,"

"I know, but don't worry. You won't _ever_ lose me . . . I promise," he told her.

He hugged her even tighter, than released her and said, "I'd better get dressed and you're not allowed to see the package yet," grinning at her.

"The package," Rachel chuckled as she left the room and went downstairs to start breakfast.

After she had gotten the griddle out to start making pancakes, she noticed two tawny owls sitting at one of the kitchen windows. Wondering what was going on, Rachel tossed open one of the windows and allowed the owls to drop their letters on the counter and fly away. She was fearing more letters from random people she didn't know.

Not even a week after the Hogwarts incident, the news of Rachel's second escape from Voldemort had made it into the _Daily Prophet_. She had been receiving letters from people all over the country. Many were even formulating something. . . .

Many people were starting to believe that Rachel Delancy was the one that could be destined to defeat Voldemort. No one had confirmed these ideas, but select few people knew that those theories were correct.

Once she had closed the window after them, she turned to the letters: one was addressed to her, the other to Sirius. Slowly, almost nervous about tearing open the letter, she opened the envelope and a sheet of paper fell out of it. At the top said "Rachel Delancy's O.W.L. results" and excitement flooded through her.

**Arithmancy E**

**Charms O**

**Defense Against the Dark Arts O**

**Divination A**

**Herbology E**

**History of Magic E**

**Potions O**

**Transfiguration O**

Rachel was ecstatic, almost to the point of jumping up and down. She had received eight O.W.L.s and was able to take all of her classes except for Divination, which she didn't really care about.

"Sirius! Sirius, get down here right now!" she squealed.

Sirius came running down the stairs, buttoning a white shirt, looking terrified.

"What? Rach, is everything okay?" he asked her worriedly.

"Yeah, of course it is! We got our O.W.L. results," she informed him, pointing at the remaining envelope.

"Thank goodness everything's okay! By the way you were shrieking, I thought a Death Eater had made it past the shields," he informed her as he grabbed his letter and tore it open.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry I scared you, but I got all O.W.L.s,"

"Congratulations! Now, what are the grades again?"

"O is outstanding; E is exceeds expectations; A is acceptable; P is poor; D is dreadful; and T is troll," Rachel recited simply.

"Wouldn't it suck if I got a Troll?"

"I would laugh,"

"Yeah," he agreed, unfolding his letter, "I know you would."

Rachel watched him as his beautiful grey eyes scanned his results. He smiled. She always liked his smile, it was very charming.

"I take it your grades are good?"

"I got an O.W.L. in everything but Divination. I got a P in it,"

"Oh well, you still did really good," Rachel assured him.

Rachel continued to talk to him as she made her famous pancakes. After five minutes, she put a couple on each plate and placed them on the table. Sirius sat in Tommy's former seat next to Rachel. Surprisingly, they ate in silence, thinking about how lucky they both were to even be eating pancakes. Just a couple of months ago, Sirius had been kidnapped by Voldemort and his Death Eaters to lure Rachel to her death. They had somehow made it out of there alive, finally reunited after a nasty breakup, and happier than ever.

Once they had finished, Rachel said in a happy voice, "Know what we're going to do today?"

"What are we going to do today?" Sirius asked, interested.

"I'm going to show you what Muggles do for fun instead of staying here the entire day," Rachel revealed.

"Sounds like fun," he responded in a dull voice.

"Oh, come on, you'll have a lot of fun!"

Sirius looked a little reluctant, but agreed.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"Well, the mall is going to open soon and I wanted to go shopping today,"

"What's the mall?" Sirius questioned.

Rachel was dumbfounded for a moment, but snapped out of it by remembering that Sirius had never experienced any Muggle activities. Still, it was very strange to her to have someone ask what the mall is.

"The mall is a building with many stores in it and you can shop for leisure books, shoes, clothes, hair stuff, stuff for your home, and a lot of other things," she explained.

"Cool. Sounds like fun."

"Now, you're not getting anything today but I need some more clothes," she told him.

"Why? If you buy anymore your closet will overflow," he said.

"Some of that stuff is too small now and plus, I also wanted to get a new dress for this year,"

"Okay. Then what are we going to do?"

"After the mall, we have to go to the studio," she said with an apology on her face.

"Why? I thought today was going to be just you and me," he said.

"I'm sorry, Padfoot, but I promised Drew that we'd come in so I can work on some new routines. You can let us know if they're good or not since you've been to a couple of my competitions,"

"Fine, but how long do we have to stay?" Sirius whined, putting his arms around Rachel's waist.

"Only a couple of hours, sweetie, I promise," she told him and pecked him on the lips. "I should get dressed though,"

"Okay," he said, releasing her.

Another ten minutes later, Rachel was completely ready to go and they drove to the mall in Rachel's brand new 2009 dark blue Ford Mustang. Since it was only a Tuesday, many people were still working meaning the mall wasn't very full.

"Okay," she told him as they started walking towards the entrance. "I want to go to Hollister for some shirts, pants, and maybe a tank-top. Then, we're going to Macy's for a dress and then we're going to Payless to find some matching shoes if I need them. Now, you don't talk or work with the money, that's what I do. The only time you talk is if I ask your opinion of something."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "I can do that,"

They went to Hollister where Rachel bought a brown fur-lined sweatshirt, a long-sleeve white shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans. Then they went to Macy's and Rachel bought a spaghetti-strapped black dress with ruffles at the bottom where it hit just above her knee. On their way out to the car after three hours of shopping, Rachel ran into a couple of familiar faces.

"Rachel?" a familiar voice asked from nearby.

Rachel turned her head and saw two of her old friends, Lucy Peters and Emily Satchur.

"Hi!" Rachel squealed, gave her bags to Sirius, and ran towards them and they all made one big hug.

"Wow! You look great!" they told her.

"Thanks, so do you! How long has it been since we've seen each other?"

"I think it was a couple of weeks before you and Lily disappeared to some other school," Emily said, tossing her gorgeous blonde hair out of her face.

"Who's that incredible looking guy back there?" Lucy asked quietly, pointing towards Sirius.

"Oh," she said, realizing she hadn't done introductions yet and beckoned Sirius over and he obeyed. "Um, Lucy, Emily, this is my boyfriend, Sirius."

"Hi," the girls said, shaking hands with him.

"Um, sweetie, why don't you wait in the car while I catch up with some old school friends for a couple minutes," she suggested, offering him the keys.

"Okay," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips and went for the car.

"Wow," Emily breathed, still watching Sirius as he got into the car.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, doing the same.

"Guys, you're kind of drooling over my boyfriend," Rachel said, trying not to laugh. She was used to this sort of thing. It was very common at Hogwarts where Sirius and James were the best looking guys in school.

"So," Lucy said, pulling her attention back to Rachel. "How long have you two been going out?"

"Almost two years,"

"You guys must be pretty serious,"

"Yeah, I think so." Rachel looked at her watch. "Well guys, it was great seeing you again but I have to get to the studio to work on a new routine,"

"See you soon!" Lucy and Emily called as Rachel got into the driver's seat.

"Where do you know those two from?" Sirius asked Rachel as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Lily and I were good friends with them when we were younger,"

In a matter of minutes, they pulled into a parking spot at Drew's studio. She put her bags into the trunk and she and Sirius walked into the studio and into the bigger practice room. They found Drew sitting on the chair by the stereo, looking through songs.

"Hey, Drew," they greeted. Rachel put her purse down on one of the chairs and hugged her professional ballroom dance partner.

"Hi, Rach. Listen, I've narrowed our Samba songs down to Copacabana or Don't Cha. Which one?"

"Um, lets use Copacabana. It's got a good beat and the routine fits well with the song," Rachel said.

"Okay, want do practice it with the song a couple of times?" Drew asked, putting the CD into the stereo.

"Sure. Honey, let us know what you think," Rachel answered, walking over to where they started.

The music started and Rachel and Drew did their new routine. It was very upbeat and made Sirius want to start dancing. After they finished, Rachel and Drew both looked a little tired but very pleased with themselves.

"So, what do you think?" Rachel said, taking a drink of water.

"It was really good. Upbeat, fun, and it made me want to start dancing," Sirius reported.

"Awesome! That's the kind of reaction we want!" Rachel squealed.

After another hour of choosing songs, critiquing the routines, and practicing, Rachel announced that they had to leave.

"We have reservations at this fabulous Italian place called Nucci's. They have amazing lasagna and gelato," Rachel told Sirius when he asked about dinner.

"Sounds good," he replied.

They pulled into the parking lot, got a table, and ordered two lasagnas and two waters. The restaurant was warm, cozy, and small, seating only about seventy-five people.

"So, have you had fun or has it been dull like you thought it would be this morning?" Rachel asked while waiting for the food.

"I've got to say that I've had a lot of fun today," Sirius answered, smiling at her.

Their food came after that and it was excellent. Feeling full, they went back to the house and watched television until they got tired and went to bed.

The next week was leisurely until the day they left for Hogwarts. Rachel was extremely excited because she and James were co-captains of the Quidditch team. She and Sirius boarded the train and made their way back to the last compartment where James and Peter were sitting and talking. Everyone greeted each other and started catching up. Remus joined them a little later on their journey after visiting the Prefect's cabin.

"I found out that tomorrow, the day that classes start, we'll be getting career advice," Remus informed them.

"Fun," James said sarcastically.

They talked about careers the rest of the trip and continued to talk about it as they piled into the Great Hall.

They went through the usual routine and found out when their appointments with their Heads of Houses were. Rachel's was at 1:15pm tomorrow. Once they had their usual nightly chat in the boy's dormitory, Rachel slept very peacefully.

Rachel and Lily woke up the next morning at 7:30am, showered, got dressed, and did their hair, makeup, and teeth and went down to breakfast together. Lily and Rachel sat down in their usual spots by the Marauders. They talked about how hard their N.E.W.T.s were going to be since their O.W.L.s were taxing enough and their new schedules. They had two free periods which made them happy until Remus brought up something that made their feelings deflate.

"You realize that since we have more homework this year than last year that we're going to have to use those free periods for homework and studying,"

That statement was true. By the time their first break came before lunch, the five of them were feeling overwhelmed and already starting on their essays.

"This completely sucks," James said during their first paper.

"Tell me about it," Sirius agreed.

"Does anyone know five signs of a werewolf?" Peter asked.

"How thick are you, Wormtail? You run around with a werewolf every month," James exclaimed.

"Keep it down" Remus begged.

"What?" Rachel asked. "It's not like anyone else knows about your furry little problem,"

"Furry little problem?" Sirius laughed.

"Well, what else are going to call it? His wolfishness?"

"Please, just keep it down," Remus repeated, not looking up from his Potions essay.

"You're right, you're right, Rach. It's his furry little problem," Sirius said, laughing at Remus.

They went to lunch and then they started talking about careers again since Sirius and Rachel were the first ones to have career advice.

"I don't know. I want to be a Healer—"

"You'd make a good Healer," James interrupted.

"Thanks. Anyway, it sounds nice, but I've wanted to be a Meteorologist since I was a little girl,"

She looked up at them to see their reactions at her wanting a Muggle profession and found confused faces. She tried to stifle her laughter as she realized that they didn't know what a Meteorologist was.

"A Meteorologist is someone who observes and predicts the weather, but sometimes some of them go out into the field to observe dangerous storms like tornados or hurricanes,"

"Wow, that sounds like fun," Remus said genuinely.

"Yeah, but if you predict a blizzard or really hot or cold weather, then people don't like you very much,"

"Oh well, that's not your fault," Sirius said while eating his sandwich.

"That's true. It's not our fault that statistics and generated models and radars are showing a certain weather pattern. Although, I would love to get out into the field a few times since my dad and I used to do it when I was younger,"

"It sounds kind of dangerous," James inserted.

"Of course it is; you're going up against the strongest thing that Mother Nature throws at you. That's why they train you. Enough of this subject though, what do you guys officially want to do?"

"I want to be an Auror," James answered.

"Me too," Sirius agreed.

"I want to be a teacher," Remus said.

"I want to work with animals," Peter said.

They discussed it for a couple of minutes before Sirius had to go to his appointment with McGonagall.

"Well, we'd better go to the common room and start on the Transfiguration paper," James suggested and they trudged up to the Gryffindor tower.

Sirius came up fifteen minutes later and reported that McGonagall said that he has the grades and the skill to become an Auror and to send Rachel down.

"Come in, Miss Delancy," McGonagall greeted as Rachel knocked on the door of her office. "Have a seat," she said, indicating one of the maroon chairs in front of her desk.

"Now, have you thought about what you want to do after Hogwarts?" she asked, getting out a couple of papers and leaflets.

"Well, I've got two ideas but one of them is a Muggle career," Rachel answered sheepishly. She wasn't sure what most wizards and witches thought of one of their own wanting a Muggle job.

"If you choose to pursue that career, then you need to go to a Muggle college, but I might be able to pull some strings and have you shadow someone for a day or two. What is this profession that you are interested in?" McGonagall asked, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"Meteorology. More specifically working with predicting, reading radars, and possibly storm chasing," Rachel informed her while McGonagall recorded it all down.

"I will talk to Dumbledore about this later. What was the other profession you might want to pursue?"

"I thought it would be cool to be a Healer,"

"Well," McGonagall said, handing Rachel a pamphlet. "You need to get exceeds expectations N.E.W.T.s in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. On your grade report, it seems that you have Outstanding in all of your classes right now, so if you keep up the good work you'll have no problem becoming a Trainee Healer. I will also talk to Dumbledore about the shadowing to help you make a decision. You may go,"

Rachel got up feeling very pleased and made her way back to the common room.

"Guess what, you guys? McGonagall said she would talk to Dumbledore and see if I could shadow a Meteorologist sometime and she also said that if I keep my grades the way they are that I could easily be a Healer," Rachel announced excitedly as she plopped down into one of the plushy armchairs.

"I'm proud of you," Sirius said and kissed her on the forehead.

After another ten minutes of working, they had all of their current homework done and loved that they only had one class left: Charms.

"You know what we should do tonight?" Rachel asked them while they made their way to the Charms classroom.

"What?" James asked.

"We should play Truth or Dare! Or figure out pranks for the Slytherins, mostly Snivellus, but still," she said, shrugging.

"Both sound good to me," James replied getting an evil grin on his face when he imagined the many possible pranks.

"That sounds like fun," Remus voiced.

"Wow, this is an interesting development. Moony actually wants to do something fun instead of study," Sirius joked.

"Ha ha," Remus replied.

Unfortunately, they didn't have more time to discuss it when the bell rang and the class started dealing with non-verbal spells.


	15. Chapter 15

Note writing hints: James _Sirius_ **Remu**s **_Rachel _**Peter

"Okay," Rachel announced later that night in the boy's dormitory where they were having their game of Truth or Dare. "Since I'm the only girl here, please be considerate of what you ask me or I may decide to hex you. Anyway, I'll start. James, truth or dare?"

"Um, dare," James answered.

"Okay, I dare you to . . . write a letter to Snape announcing your undying love and we have to deliver it," Rachel challenged him.

"Great," James said, looking disgusted at what he was supposed to write. He then got a piece of paper, a quill, and asked, "What should I write?"

"My Dearest Severus," Peter started.

"Every time my eyes lay upon you my heart beats faster and faster," Remus continued.

"There is nothing I'd love more than to run my fingers through your lush foliage," Sirius added, causing James to gag uncontrollably.

"Please, dearest Severus, give me a chance to prove my undying love for you," Rachel suggested.

"Yours forever and ever, James Potter," Peter finished.

"I love it!" Sirius laughed.

Once James had finished recording everything down, they suggested that they head down to the Slytherin common room but Rachel stopped them.

"No, not yet. I have another dare that involves the Slytherins and we can do it while we deliver it, so James, choose someone,"

"Okay," James said, thrown off a bit. "Remus, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Remus answered.

"Remember, you must answer this honestly. Have you ever had romantic feelings for Rachel?" James asked, grinning.

"You're trying to get me beaten up by Padfoot, aren't you? Well, no, not really. That night that we kissed, I did for a minute, but then I remembered that Sirius was crazy about her and snapped me out of it."

"Wow," Rachel said softly.

"That's loyalty right there," James interjected.

"Thanks, Moony. You're a good friend," Sirius said, clapping Remus across the back.

"Anytime, Padfoot, anytime. Now, Sirius, truth or dare?"

"Dare! Please nothing that will make Rach hex me, though," Sirius added.

"Well, Rach, what's your idea?" Remus asked her.

Rachel leaned over to Remus and whispered it into his ear. He started laughing as Rachel pulled away.

"I guess Sirius will do this. We will accompany you while you go down to the Slytherin common room and change everything that's black to hot pink, fill the place with fluffy pillows, and have butterflies flying around. And James can drop off the letter."

"Sounds awesome! Thanks for a good idea, Rach," Sirius said to his girlfriend and they started kissing, earning them three pillows to the head while the other Marauders laughed.

"Well, we'd better get going," Peter said.

James, Sirius, and Remus got under the Invisibility Cloak while Rachel and Peter transformed into their Animagus form. Rachel and Peter would be allowed in the castle as a cat and a rat. Silently, they made their way out of the tower and started off toward the dungeons. They reached a dark and mossy looking wall and James whispered, "Pure-blood,"

An opening appeared in the wall and the five of them entered. Rachel and Peter changed back into their human forms and looked around, wondering where to start. The common room was filled with black and green furniture, banners, and pillows. While James went up to find Snape's bed under the Invisibility Cloak, Rachel started turning the pillows into fluffy pink ones with Remus' help. Peter was helping Sirius turn the rest of the stuff that was black into pink stuff. Once James returned, he conjured many multi-colored butterflies to fly around the now pink and green common room. Everyone took one look around, turned into their disguises, and left the common room laughing their heads off.

Once they returned to Gryffindor tower, Rachel followed the boys up to their room, still laughing.

"I can't wait to see their reaction tomorrow," Sirius said, wiping tears of laughter away.

"I can't wait to see Snape's face," Rachel voiced, also wiping away tears.

"He's going to hate James even more if it's possible," Remus interjected.

"This was so priceless, but I'm completely wiped," Peter announced.

"Yeah, me too. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning," Rachel said.

She kissed Sirius goodnight and left the guys alone, still grinning at the thought of the girlish common room at the bottom of the castle as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning in Transfiguration, the five started writing notes again.

_**Hey Moony, when's the FM?**_

_The what?_

_**You know, that thing Remus doesn't want us to talk about in public.**_

**It's in two days**

Fun, fun!

Did you see the look on the Slytherins faces this morning?

I know, they were so pissed off!

_**That was so much fun last night.**_

_Ooh, look at the look Snivellus is giving Prongs. I can't determine if it's hatred or immense longing. . . ._

_**You really shouldn't make James hit you, especially in McGonagall's class.**_

_Yeah, you're right._

**Once again she exercises the power to control Sirius that only she has. . . .**

_**Shut up, Moony.**_

Well, it's true.

_**Yeah, I know. I just don't flaunt it everywhere.**_

_So, we're all up for the next FM adventure?_

Of course we are!

We should be insulted that you even asked that, Padfoot!

Time seemed to fly and soon the night of the full moon was upon them. At sunset, Madam Pomfrey brought Remus outside and onto the grounds, leading him to the Whomping Willow, the most dangerous tree on the grounds that attacks anyone that comes near it unless a knot is pushed. Once they checked that the coast was clear, Rachel and Peter turned into their cat and rat forms. Sirius and James got under the Invisibility Cloak and followed the animals as they lead the way out to the tree. Rachel was pretending to chase Peter, but they could tell that both of them were laughing about it. In fact, they were going so fast that James and Sirius had to run in order to keep up with them.

The cool autumn air felt amazing as Rachel, James, Sirius, and Peter ran through it. There was a slight breeze that lightly rattled the festive red and yellow leaves that still clung to the branches. They reached the swinging branches of the Whomping Willow and Peter ran to touch the knot that temporarily paralyzed the tree, allowing them access to the secret passageway through the tree that lead to the Shrieking Shack. Dumbledore started a rumor that the house was haunted by violent spirits, keeping Hogsmeade visitors far away from the decrepit looking house that sat on the edge of the village.

James pulled the Cloak off of himself and Sirius, tucked it into his pocket, and changed into his stag form at the same time that Sirius transformed into his gigantic black dog animagus form. Together, Rachel leading the pack in her black and white cat form, they went through the path that lead to the house, climbed the steps, and saw Remus sitting in a chair by an unlit fireplace. He smiled at them as they came into the room and sat down in different spots, waiting for the moonlight to touch Remus so he transforms. Every time, they wanted this process to happen as quickly as possible, meaning that the painful form that their best friend took would come and go quicker.

Just as a thin beam of moonlight that reflected off the bright rock in the sky touched Remus, he started the painful transformation. All of them looked away, not wanting to see Remus in so much pain as he turned into his werewolf form. Rachel didn't see much afterwards though. It was her turn to wait at the entrance to the house to keep watch when an abnormal coldness filled the air around her.

She felt a cold sink inside of her going so deep that she didn't think it was possible to feel warm again. The darkness seemed thicker and Rachel started to hear things, things she tried to not think about unless she had to: she heard Voldemort speaking to her brother moments before his death. The coldness seemed to sink deeper within and Rachel felt herself growing weaker by the second. Shortly before she felt she was going to blackout, the most vivid picture of Voldemort in her living room burst into her mind, blocking out everything else. Rachel once again watched as Voldemort murdered her brother and turned his wand upon her. Her brother's body was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

Rachel felt herself lying on a very comfortable and soft bed covered with many warm blankets. She wanted to keep her eyes shut and not move for a long time, but forced herself to open her unwilling eyes. Her eyes rested upon Sirius sitting in a chair, head tilted back as he slept. He looked peaceful but also troubled. The sky outside of the windows of the hospital wing still reflected the dark sky. Remus was still in the Shrieking Shack, hopefully. Rachel didn't want to think about the possibility of being out cold for a few days. A picture of a large pyramid of homework appeared in her mind and she inwardly groaned. Deciding to wake her handsome boyfriend, Rachel sat up, leaned over a little bit, and whispered, "Sirius! Wake up!"

He didn't budge. Rachel knew as well as the other guys that Sirius was a very hard sleeper. She looked around and couldn't find her wand and assumed that Sirius had it hidden somewhere to avoid a bucket of water pouring over him in case he dozed off.

"Well, I'll wake him up in a way that's pleasant for both of us," Rachel whispered to herself. She swung her legs off of the bed, got up quietly, knelt down next to the chair in which Sirius was snoozing, and lightly kissed him on the lips.

At first, Sirius didn't respond, so Rachel put more pressure behind it and soon reaped her reward: Sirius, eyelids still closed, kissed her back with a fiery passion. After several minutes, they pulled apart, and Sirius opened his eyes and grinned at Rachel, looking into her mesmerizing blue eyes, and said, "Why can't you wake me up like that every morning? I prefer that to the bucket of cold water,"

"Well, that was my original plan but I noticed that you had taken my wand to prevent that," Rachel retorted, grinning back at him. Her grin soon died away as she asked, "What happened to me?"

Sirius's grin faded off of his face and told her, "You hadn't reported anything for awhile so I decided to check on you and saw that you had collapsed. A dementor was floating away, feeling angered, probably because of my presence. For a moment I had feared the worst . . ." he broke off. She knew that he was referring to the Dementor's Kiss. That's when a dementor, the darkest creature on this earth, would suck out your soul, leaving you trapped in your own mind. It was a fate that no one wished upon one another in most circumstances.

"I'm fine though, babe. Everything's okay. How long have I been out?"

"Only a couple of hours. James and Peter agreed to keep watch over Remus while I waited up here with you,"

"Are we in a lot of trouble?" she asked him worriedly.

"No. I went straight to Dumbledore with you and told him what happened, but with a few minor details changed. I said that we were walking around the grounds and when I turned my back on you for a couple of minutes a dementor attacked you. We don't have any punishment, but he did warn us to not wander around at night. He's supposed to be bringing this up with the Ministry since the dementors aren't supposed to leave Azkaban without permission,"

The dementors were the guards over the wizard prison, Azkaban.

"Anything else?" she questioned as she crawled under the covers of the always cozy hospital bed.

"I think Dumbledore's going to teach you how to produce a Patronus, just in case Voldemort manages to turn them against us. It's supposed to be really advanced magic,"

"Oh well. I'm going to try and get some more sleep. Please try and do the same; I don't like seeing you this exhausted," Rachel informed him before drifting off into darkness once again.

When Rachel woke up the next morning, she saw an occupied bed next to her with the curtains pulled around and knew she was looking at the bed of Remus. The sun had fully risen and was bringing light into the hospital wing. Sirius was once again dozing in his chair next to her bed looking much calmer than previously. She smiled as she watched him, thinking once again how lucky she was to be alive. Before she could move much though, Madam Pomfrey came rushing in and came right to her bed and shoved some chocolate into Rachel's mouth.

"Eat that, it'll help. How are you feeling?" she asked, fussing over Rachel by taking her pulse and temperature.

"I'm a little tired but otherwise I feel okay," Rachel responded wearily. She disliked it when people made a fuss over her.

"Good. If everything stays the same you'll be discharged later today probably around dinner."

Madam Pomfrey went around the curtains to check on Remus. She stayed there for a few minutes dabbing some cream on Remus' face and arms before leaving the wing. Soon after, Dumbledore came in, eyes having that signature twinkle and that famous piercing look that made you believe that he could see you like an X-ray.

"Good morning, Rachel. Feeling better I assume?" Dumbledore asked lightly, standing at the foot of her bed.

"Much better, sir," she answered with a small smile.

"Now, according to Mr. Black, it was a dementor?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Well, I feel compelled to reveal that Voldemort has been trying to convince the dementors to join his side. As far as I know, he has been unsuccessful. Things may change though and you need to know how to defend yourself," Dumbledore explained.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea since I'm numero uno on Voldemort's hit list," Rachel laughed. Dumbledore chuckled lightly.

"That is, without a doubt, the truth. In order to protect yourself, I recommend that you learn how to cast a Patronus Charm. Have you heard of it?"

She shook her head.

"Well, a Patronus, when properly cast, can serve as a shield against dementors. I would like you to start lessons with me on Thursday at 8 o' clock. Do you have any questions?"

"Well, yes but it's not about the lessons," Rachel said hesitantly. "How did Voldemort know I would find the room?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"I was hoping that we wouldn't be forced to discuss this quite yet, but it seems that the time has come for you to know. That scar that you have is no ordinary scar. It causes you to feel Voldemort's feelings and see in his mind, right?"

Rachel nodded.

"I believe that Voldemort can reciprocate those actions. He made it possible for you to see in his mind so that you would know where to find Sirius. Due to recent information, it seems that Voldemort is now afraid of this connection since you can discover his plots. Push this information aside for now; you'll know if Voldemort's block has faded. Enjoy a chocolate frog," he added with a wink as he left the room.

Rachel smiled. She loved that Dumbledore gave her the password in random statements. Tomorrow was Thursday, meaning that she would be starting her lessons quite soon. Deciding that she should wake Sirius for class, Rachel bent over towards him. Before she could do anything more, James and Peter burst into the wing. There had been too many people visiting for Rachel to handle, but she attempted to contain her temper.

"Hey, Rach," Peter greeted, smiling at her. He hadn't grown much since she had first met him on the Hogwarts Express back in her first year.

"Feeling better?" James asked, pulling up a seat next to Sirius.

"Yeah. How was Remus last night?" Rachel said with concern.

"Surprisingly calm. We're not sure why,"

James and Peter turned toward Sirius who was still dozing, unaware of the new visitors. James got his mischievous grin on his face, raised his hand, and smacked Sirius across the back of the head.

"Ow, who smacked me?" Sirius said indignantly.

"James," Rachel and Peter said at the same time.

"Thanks for ratting me out, guys," James said, smirking.

"Whatever, just don't hit me again unless you want it back at you twice as bad," Sirius threatened.

James just chuckled.

"Dumbledore was in here not too long ago," Rachel informed them.

"Did you two get in trouble?" Peter asked, looking from Rachel to Sirius.

"No, I made up a story," Sirius answered. "What did he want, Rach?"

"He wanted me to start Patronus lessons tomorrow. He says that Voldemort could easily get the dementors on his side and I need to be prepared. I'll probably teach you once I get it down so you'll be safe too."

"Sounds interesting," came a raspy voice from behind the curtain surrounding the bed next to Rachel.

"Remus!" Rachel greeted. She leaned over and pulled the curtains back. Rachel had to hold in a gasp and managed to pull away her shocked look before it surfaced.

His face and arms were scratched up and very red. There was a bluish cream dabbed onto his wounds that apparently stopped the scratches from scarring. Remus seemed comfortable with it, for he had been dealing with this for many years by now.

"Why are you getting Patronus lessons?" he asked interested.

"Well, last night on watch I was attacked by dementors,"

"WHAT?"

Rachel and Sirius launched into the story. By the time that they had finished, Remus looked appalled.

"Do you think he's got control of them already?" Moony said.

"Dumbledore doesn't think so, but he's not sure if it'll stay that way," Rachel answered.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Sirius broke it.

"There's a war coming, isn't there?" he asked quietly, looking at his hands.

"Well, if he doesn't get me soon, there's going to be a full out war," Rachel responded.

James glanced at his watch.

"Class is going to start soon. We'd better get going. We'll see you later," James said, clasped Rachel's hand quickly, then walked to the door and waited for Sirius and Peter to follow.

Peter smiled at them and followed James. Sirius smiled at Remus, kissed Rachel on the cheek, and together the three boys left the infirmary.

"Guess it's just you and me now, Moony," Rachel spoke, grinning at one of her best friends.

"Guess so," he responded, also having a grin on his face through the cream that was healing his injuries.


	16. Chapter 16

Rachel and Remus engaged in small talk and joking, ending up laughing for most of the time. Madam Pomfrey popped in on occasion and at once the laughter died. The day passed by very quickly and suddenly Rachel was dismissed from the hospital wing. She said a quick good-bye to Remus and went down to the Great Hall to enjoy an excellent meal.

Eight o'clock came too soon for Rachel. She was making her way to Dumbledore's office, contemplating what these lessons were going to do and how draining it would be. Rachel said the password (chocolate frog) and the gargoyle entrance allowed her forward.

She climbed the stairs slowly, reluctant to do these lessons. Remus had told her that conjuring a real Patronus could be very exhausting and Rachel was not looking forward to it. N.E.W.T. classes were tiring enough without the added weariness.

Rachel knocked twice on the door, a signature knock, and Dumbledore said, "Enter,"

She turned the knob and entered the circular office. Nothing had changed since the last time she had entered the room during the previous school year. All of the delicate silver instruments were on their stands, the portraits of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses on the walls, sleeping or talking with one another.

"Good evening, Rachel. Happy to be out of the hospital wing?" Dumbledore greeted her with a smile on his face.

"It's always a good thing to hear that you're being released from that place," Rachel responded, grinning.

"Well, now that you are accounted for, we might as well get started. I'm going to give you an advance warning: this can and probably will be draining. I don't expect many tries tonight until your magic gets used to performing this type of spell. Now, close your eyes,"

Rachel obliged.

"Think of a happy and powerful memory. Dementors suck the happiness out of you and in order to have a successful shield, you need to fight their powers with happiness."

Rachel searched through some of her memories and came upon one that made her feel warm inside when she pictured it and decided on that one.

"Now," Dumbledore cut across. "You may open your eyes once your have selected something."

Rachel opened her eyelids to reveal her blue eyes.

"Allow your memory to fill you up, lose yourself in it. While doing so, say the words, 'Expecto Patronum.'"

"Expecto Patronum," she said softly, holding her wand out in front of her, pointed at nothing in particular. A silver mist came from it, filling Rachel with excitement.

"Now, I'm going to ask you to concentrate very hard on the memory of your choice and repeat those words once again,"

Rachel once again obliged. Instead of a silver mist, a large fluffy cat colored silver emerged from the tip of her wand. Dumbledore gave her a very warm and happy smile.

"Excellent. That right there is a true Patronus," he informed her.

She let go of the vivid memory of her first anniversary date with Sirius and the cat Patronus vanished. At this, Rachel noticed how worn out she felt.

"It's only been a half an hour. As long as you keep doing this well, our lessons should decrease in time. I would like you to come back a few more times so you get adjust to performing magic like that."

She nodded.

"Good. I have asked a house-elf to deliver a bar of Honeydukes finest chocolate to your dormitory. I suggest you eat it when you arrive," Dumbledore said, giving her a tiny wink.

"Thank you, sir," she replied and left the room for the Gryffindor tower.

The next day after Defense Against the Dark Arts, Rachel was telling them about the lesson she had had the previous night. Before she got too far into answering any questions, Sirius and James looked toward the grounds and saw them become alert, like animals on hunting day listening for any sound of a hunter coming. Rachel's eyes scanned the area to see what had grabbed their attention. It was Lily and Severus. Knowing that they never missed an opportunity to prank Snape, or for James to try and impress Lily, the two boys went walking to the bench on which Lily, with her flaming red hair, sat next to Snape, whose hair looked even greasier in the daylight.

Rachel decided to hang back with Remus and Peter, who were watching the situation reluctantly. This was certainly nothing new.

"Hey Snivelly," James said with a sneer in his voice. "Did you finish the paper for Fairbanks today?"

Professor Fairbanks was their Defense teacher.

"I saw him, his nose was touching the paper; he'll never be able to read it with all that grease on there," Sirius interjected.

"Leave him alone!" a strong and familiar voice said. Lily's voice.

"Aw, come on, Evans! It's all fun and games," James retorted.

"Why don't you go and bother some other person for a change," Lily responded fiercely.

"Be quiet. I don't need help from Mudbloods like you," Snape spat, obviously annoyed at the situation.

Rachel ran forward to the two boys with wands pointed in Snape's face to stop any hexing that was about to start. As Rachel came close, she saw that Lily's expression was full of shock and hurt.

"James, Sirius, leave them be," Rachel told them once she had reached the group.

"Did you hear what he called her?" Sirius asked angrily.

"Yes," Rachel answered and placed a hand on Sirius's left arm. "Yes, I did hear it and I'm very angered by it considering that Lily's one of my best friends, but I don't want a scene to get started. Come on,"

Sirius looked like he was about to argue, but silently lowered his wand, James doing the same.

"Let's go," Rachel said. "I'll see you later, Lily,"

As Rachel led James and Sirius back toward the other two Marauders, she grabbed Sirius's hand and squeezed it, telling him to let it go. He responded by squeezing back, indicating that he would try. They had an unexplained silent communication skill between each other that was very rare and they enjoyed it very much.

Later that night, after dinner, Rachel entered her dorm to find Lily sitting on her bed, mopping her teary eyes with a Kleenex. Right away, Rachel rushed toward her, sat down on the bed beside her, and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Lily, sweetie, what happened?" Rachel asked softly, wondering what had made her unusually strong friend break down.

"Me and Sev had a fight over what he called me and now we're not friends anymore," Lily sobbed.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. If you ever need anyone to talk to about this, feel free to get me, even if I'm with the boys. You should get some sleep, though," Rachel noted, seeing the dark circles under her friend's green eyes.

"Okay," Lily muttered and crawled under the covers once Rachel had vacated the bed. Rachel crawled into her own bed allowing sleep to take possession of her.

The weeks up until the first Saturday of December were eventless. Lily mourned for a couple of days, James and Sirius hexed Snape for making Lily cry, earning them a couple of detentions, classes were giving hours of homework nightly, and Rachel hadn't had any dreams to alert her Headmaster of.

That Saturday night, after an energetic party celebrating a Quidditch victory, Rachel was sleeping soundly in her bed, exhausted from the earlier game.

In the midst of the blackness that surrounded her in her sleep, she suddenly saw herself in a room that was very dark and quite spooky. She turned in different directions, looking for an exit, until something caught her eye: A flicker of something silver but menacing.

Rachel crept forward silently to investigate. Once again she saw the silver, but it was larger and had a shape still unrecognizable due to the dark and the distance. Continuing her stealthy walk, she saw what the flicker had been: a butcher knife.

Her body froze, stiff with fright. The blade came into focus in the air, completely still. At this spot, she could see it very clearly.

The blade was at least a foot long without counting the black plastic handle. There was dried blood on a good portion of it, but towards the tip of the blade had wet, fresh blood dripping slowly and in a sinister way that made Rachel's hair stand on end. Without any hesitation, the blade, now held by an unidentified hand, came flying forward, causing Rachel to scream. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't move. The bloody butcher knife was closing in, now within inches of her, about to dive into her chest. . . .

Rachel jolted awake, breathing heavily and shaking, with beads of sweat dripping down her face. She took her arm, quickly wiped the moisture away, then climbed out of bed. After slipping on a maroon robe over her pajamas, she climbed down the stairs to the empty common room; fireplace still lit, and sat down in a squishy armchair, wondering if it was only a nightmare.

_Of course it was a nightmare,_ a voice in her head said. _No one is going to attack you with a gigantic butcher knife so stop worrying._


	17. Chapter 17

Rachel's eyes wandered around and landed on the windows revealing a pinkish tint to the black sky. She sat there, gazing at its beauty, and fell asleep once more.

"Should we wake her?" someone asked.

"I don't know. She might get mad," someone else said.

"I say we wake her," a mischievous voice said. Rachel recognized the voice of James. Deciding to see what kind of trick James had up his sleeve, she kept feigning sleep and listened closely to their conversation.

"Do we dump a bucket on her? She's done it to us before," Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, we'll see if does it again once she knows how it feels," James responded.

Rachel opened her eyes a tiny bit to see the four guys in a huddle, backs toward her. She pulled out her wand from her robe's pocket sneakily, making sure it was in place to perform her trick without being spotted at first. Keeping her eyes open enough to see what was happening, she saw James charming a bucket that spilled the occasional drop or two of water that was hovering towards her very slowly. Once the bucket was close to her head, she pointed her wand toward it without the guys noticing it, and forced the bucket to throw the water onto James, who instantly became soaked.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter were laughing. Rachel peeked her head over the back of the chair to see James giving her a death glare and the other marauders on the ground, clutching their stomachs.

"Ah, the Marauderette beats the top Marauder," Rachel said with a wide grin on her face.

"Yeah, whatever," James muttered while he dried off his clothes. "Remus, give her the thing,"

"What thing?" she asked.

"Dumbledore asked us to give this letter to you once you woke up," Remus explained, handing her an envelope with her name on it in Dumbledore's handwriting.

"Thanks," she said as she grabbed the letter. "I'm going to open this in my room after I get dressed since I'm wearing less than most of you should be seeing," she added, referring to her short robe. She got out of the chair and climbed up the stairs and heard James say right before she entered her dorm,

"Sure, the only who's allowed to see that much is Sirius,"

Once Rachel had dressed into a pair of light blue jeans and a short black cheongsam dress over it with a pair of stylish black Italian stilettos, she tore open the envelope and opened the letter.

Rachel—

I hope you are opening this away from prying eyes, no need to say names, because this contains information that I am only sharing with you and the Order of the Phoenix. During the recent weeks, I have found undeniable evidence that there may be an undercover spy for Voldemort. None of the pieces of evidence are pointing towards Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, and Miss Evans, so no need worry about that. Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify anyone at this point, but I shall inform you if anything new arises. For now though, I strongly urge that you keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. Alert me immediately if you find something.

Dumbledore

Rachel was stunned. She could hardly believe that someone might be undercover for Voldemort roaming about the castle. The thought of it chilled her and made her tense. Dumbledore said specifically to not tell anyone about this and she understood completely: if this got into the open it would cause mayhem beyond belief.

She folded up the letter and slipped it in-between the mattresses and went downstairs where the boys were still hanging out.

"What was the letter about?" Peter asked the minute he saw her.

"Just discussing some tips about casting a Patronus," Rachel responded unblushingly. She was surprised at how easy it was to lie to them and it unsettled her a little. "Let's go walking around for a little bit,"

Before they got very far away from the tower, Rachel was stopped by McGonagall.

"Ah, Miss Delancy, just the person I was looking for. We have managed, through some of your father's contacts, to get you a shadowing program at the Weather Center. Your first day is on Tuesday and you are excused from your classes that day,"

"Thank you so much, Professor, thanks," she said sincerely and McGonagall went towards her office.

"That's not fair," James said while walking on the grounds. "You get to be excused for a leisurely day,"

"It's not a leisurely day," Sirius retorted. "She has to follow around Meteo—whatevers,"

"That's going to be fun though, Sirius!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I swear you're becoming like Moony," Sirius muttered.

"He wishes," she responded, earning her a playful punch from Remus.

Sooner than soon, Tuesday dawned upon them. Rachel woke up that morning feeling excited about learning how to do her dream career. She secretly hoped that she would be able to go into the field to observe, but she wasn't expecting it. Hurricanes were popular around the area but hurricane season had ended at the end of November.

Her outfit wasn't much different than usual except that she wore tennis shoes, which she rarely wore. The station had warned her to be prepared for field work since there was a high chance of storms that day. Rachel descended down the stairs into the empty common room except for her four male best friends; everyone else was down at breakfast and getting ready for classes.

Once she had given hugs and kisses to the guys, she turned to Sirius and said, "Behave," in a threatening manner, pointing a finger at him. He only responded by grinning. At that, she turned to Remus and said, "You have to keep an eye on those two while I'm gone,"

Deep down, she knew that James and Sirius would almost never behave when told to do so.

"Rach, when are you ever going to learn? There's a chain: you have the rare power to stop Sirius, therefore stopping James, and then everyone else stops. There's not much I can do," he replied with a sad smile.

"Have fun, guys," and she walked out of the tower and down to Dumbledore's office where she would take a Portkey to her house and drive herself to the Weather Center.

At 10am, Rachel arrived in the cozy and inviting living room of her home. Both of her parents were at work: her mother, Victoria, was a Healer, and her father, David, was a professional chef. She opened the garage, got into her car, backed out of the driveway, and took off to the east for the Weather Center.

Fortunately, she didn't have to drive very long. After thirty minutes, she pulled into one of the parking spots outside of the small sized building. Even though it was a small building, it was nationally known as the best place to receive weather information.

The building was split into four parts: the East Coast section, the Midwest section, the West Coast section, and the Storm Chaser section. Rachel knew that the woman she was shadowing went back and forth between the East Coast and Storm Chaser sections. Once outside the front doors, Rachel stopped and took a deep, calming breath. Then she entered. . . .

The lobby was very modern: the walls were painted black, the tile floor was a spotless white, there was a red door at the other end of the room next to a check-in desk. There were photos of different clouds, sunsets, and storms on the walls and everything seemed to flow. Rachel walked to the desk. A petite blonde was sitting in the chair, doing something on the computer when she said, "What's your business here?"

"I'm Rachel Delancy, I'm supposed to be shadowing today," she answered.

"Okay, Miss Delancy, go through the red door. When you get to the first intersection, take a right. Once you enter the East Coast room, ask for Mrs. Lockhart. You'll be shadowing her,"

"Thank you," and she followed the instructions.

The halls had the same color scheme as the lobby, along with the different weather photos. There weren't very many doors because most of the people worked in the labs and with the radars. Rachel opened the glass door to the East Coast section and entered it. She was now in a very large room with many desks, computers, and people moving around, observing other people's screens. After five steps into the room, a very pretty brunette greeted her.

"Hi, you must be Rachel,"

Rachel nodded.

"I'm Amanda Lockhart, you'll be shadowing me today. First, I want to give you a tour of the building and then I'll get you up to speed on today's events."

With that, they left the room.

"When you come in from the lobby and take a right, that's obviously the East Coast center. If you took a left, that would lead you to the West Coast center. When you keep going straight to the other end of the building, that's the Midwest center, and in the middle of the three centers is the Storm Chasers headquarters. It's positioned so that people from any of the centers can alert the Chasers of anything and then they go from there."

Amanda showed her the other two centers which looked almost exactly like the East Coast center.

"Are we going to see the Storm Chasers headquarters?"

"Not yet, but I have a feeling we'll need to be going there later,"

They went back towards the East Coast center but took a door on the left right by the intersection. The room was circular with black walls, two white leather couches, about five white tables with chestnut chairs and red cushions on the seats. There was a large coffee maker and a tray of bagels with cream cheese next to it. Amanda and Rachel took a seat at one of the tables by the door.

"First of all," Amanda said, "how much do you know about Meteorology?"

"Well," Rachel answered, thinking about her answer. "I know how to read different radars; I know how to identify certain characteristics of severe thunderstorms that could lead to tornados, stuff like that. I don't really know anything about winter weather, but I know a little bit about severe weather."

"Good, good, you're off to a good start. Now, let me get up to speed," Amanda replied, clapping her hands together. "Right now, as we speak, there is a supercell edging closer to us. It's over Raleigh right now, but we're not far from there. We've had reports of softball sized hail and our wind speed indicators are finding wind speeds of 60mph on the edge of the storm, but winds of 140mph towards the center. There is a very defined hook near our building, so right now our chasers are on alert. If something of interest pops up, we'll be heading there since I lead a team, but for right now I'll be showing you different things about the cell."

"Sounds good," Rachel said, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information given to her. Apparently, Amanda could tell and said,

"Don't worry. It gets better with time,"

When Rachel had finally gotten back to Hogwarts later that night, she was on the verge of dropping. Not even five minutes after reviewing radars, a series of tornados popped up from nothing and they were sent into the field for almost the entire day to track the storms. Regardless of being exhausted, she also felt exhilarated. It had felt amazing being out in the middle of it all and she was even asked to come back during June when the hurricane season would be starting up again. Without even acknowledging any of her friends, Rachel dropped onto her bed and fell asleep instantly.

"Rach, Rachel, wake up!" someone said into her ear. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and saw the four Marauders sitting on her bed, fully dressed.

"How'd you guys get in here?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"We found out the password," James answered simply.

"How was your day yesterday?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, you didn't even notice us when you got back," Peter replied.

"I'm sorry, I was just so exhausted. It was a very busy day,"

"What happened?" Remus inquired.

"Well, I got a tour of the building, looked at some radars for about five minutes before going into the field to track a gigantic tornado breakout. It was a lot of fun and I get to go back during the beginning of hurricane season in June,"

"Sounds like fun," Peter said.

"Come on, we're going to be late for class," Remus interrupted.

The next couple of weeks flew by and it was now December 19th and Rachel would be having a 2 year anniversary date with Sirius that night. Luckily, classes had gotten done the day before giving Rachel plenty of time to relax and get ready for that night. Rachel looked herself over one last time that night. She was wearing a black halter dress with a blue bow at the bust and four skinny blue stripes that fell above her knee with a pair of Italian shoes. Once completely satisfied with her hair and makeup, Rachel went downstairs to find Sirius, dressed in a sharp suit, waiting to accompany her to the place where they'd had their first anniversary date.

The decorations were almost the exact same which was fine with Rachel considering it was so romantic looking. They had lasagna with champagne and cheesecake for dessert. She gave him a gold Rolex and he gave her a silver bracelet that was engraved with the words: Sirius & Rachel.

Sirius walked her to the girl's dormitory afterwards to sleep because the next day they would be leaving for their homes.

Once Lily and Rachel had gotten dressed, they started to pack their things. Lily would be leaving with Rachel instead of going straight to her own home. Lily offered to bring the bags down to the fireplace where they would Floo to Rachel's home while Rachel said good-bye to the guys. She found them packing their bags and noticed that is was immense chaos with guys going all over the place looking for their things.

"Having fun?" she smirked.

"Yeah, we've been looking forward to this all year," Remus said sarcastically.

"Want some help?"

"Yes, please," the guys all said at once.

Rachel then proceeded to help out her friends. Another fifteen minutes later, everyone had their bags packed and delivered to the common room.

"You know, you all need to be organized like me and Lily because we were packed in five minutes and we have _way_ more stuff than you," Rachel pointed out.

"Rach, hurry up! We have to go in a minute or two," Lily called from by the fireplace.

Rachel hugged James, Remus, and Peter and gave a kiss to Sirius before grabbing her bags and Flooing with Lily to her house.


	18. Chapter 18

"Hi Rachel! Hi Lily!" Danielle and Angela said as soon as Rachel and Lily climbed out of the fireplace.

"Hey squirts!" Rachel said back and gave them both hugs. It still amazed her that her younger sisters still could've passed for twins. "I'll see you later, Lily!" she called as Lily waved by the front door.

Rachel brought her suitcase upstairs to her dark blue bedroom and went back downstairs.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked the girls as she grabbed a soda from the fridge.

"They said that they were going shopping for our Christmas presents but they should be back in a couple of hours," Danielle answered. Danielle and Angela both had very blond hair and were approximately the same height regardless of the year difference in age. Angela would be starting her first year at a Wizarding school next year and Danielle would be starting the year after. The family wasn't sure if they would go to Hogwarts or Duffletown since Rachel's deceased brother, Tommy, went to Duffletown.

For the next three hours, Rachel played board games and watched movies with her younger sisters. Tommy's death had taught her to spend as much time as possible with the people she loved.

The summer before Rachel's fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort had passed through the protective charms around the house and murdered her older brother because he wouldn't get out of the way. Every time August 20th came around, the family was somber.

The three girls were playing Clue when their mom called out, "Danielle, Angela, we're home!"

"Don't see us yet until we hide your presents!" their father called afterwards.

Rachel grinned at her sisters who grinned back. They knew the presents were hidden in the house and they were silently communicating the idea of searching for them when their parents were at work.

Five minutes later, their parents David and Victoria came into the living room to greet their kids. After hugging Danielle and Angela, they gave Rachel huge hugs.

"I forgot you were coming home today!" her mom exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, time flies sometimes," Rachel replied.

"Good to see you, honey," her dad said.

Everyone went into the kitchen and took their seats around their black marble island table except for David, who started their dinner.

"So, how are your classes?" David asked over his shoulder.

"They're good. We have hours upon hours of homework though," Rachel replied. She loved that the teachers had mercy on the students and gave them no homework over Christmas.

"I hate to admit it, sweetie, but Newts are going to get even worse," Victoria grimaced. She had attended Hogwarts when she was younger. "So, did you have fun shadowing? Amanda told us that you have a knack for the job,"

Amanda Lockhart was friends with David and Victoria.

"Yeah, it was really busy though. I was thinking of becoming a part-time Healer and part-time Meteorologist once I get done with Hogwarts,"

"That sounds like a good idea. That way you can have both of the jobs you want and probably make a decision on which one you like more later on,"

Everyone chatted for a little bit until David announced that dinner was ready. They had tender beef medallions topped with caramelized onion and pepper with a hollandaise sauce. For a side dish, they had garlic mashed potatoes and a salad, which all tasted delicious. That was one of the advantages of having a father who was a professional chef: amazing food.

The next day was pretty much the same: Rachel cooked breakfast and lunch for the girls since their parents were at work, played games with them, talked and had dinner with their parents later on, and went to bed a couple of hours later.

On December 22nd, Danielle and Angela were going over to a friend's house for a sleepover, meaning Rachel had the house to herself. Instead of sitting in the quiet house, Rachel decided to go for a walk around the park.

She noticed that it was unusually quiet. Kids were usually everywhere playing in the snow that covered the playground which was deserted. Rachel looked around to make sure the coast was clear and pulled out her wand as a precaution. Not even a second later, a green flash passed by her inches from her face. Whipping around, she saw the all too familiar face: Voldemort.

"_Stupefy!"_ Rachel shouted, shooting a red beam at him which was blocked by a Shielding Charm. In her mind, she said, "_Protego!"_ to put a shield charm over herself. Fear was boiling inside her as Voldemort merely stood there, observing her, planning his next move. Suddenly, he shot a Killing Curse at her and she maneuvered around it and started to run back for her house, which was five blocks away.

"_Sectumsempra!"_ she heard him say and before she could move, she felt a burning pain in her ankle, causing her to fall over. She felt down by her ankle and found it wet from blood. There was a huge gash by her ankle. Unable to get up, she attempted to crawl towards her house. Rachel only had two more blocks and was praying that she would be able to make it.

Suddenly she felt another stinging pain hit her arm and saw another gash on there, bleeding as severely as the one on her ankle. He was trying to disable her so she wouldn't be able to move at all and regardless of her terror, she admired his tactics. Rachel fell onto her back once her arms had given out on her and watched, panic immersing her, as Voldemort walked slowly towards her, victory written over his snake-like face. Tears started falling as she realized she would never be able to see her sisters, her parents, her friends, or Sirius ever again.

Voldemort was now standing next to her, looking down into her crying face. "Now, Rachel, is your turn to die. Too bad you don't have your precious brother to protect you,"

Anger swelled up inside of her at the mention of her brother from the man who killed him and before he could raise his wand, Rachel swung her leg with all her strength at his knees, which buckled, causing Voldemort to fall over, and Rachel forced herself up and ran as quickly as possible towards her house.

Taking a chance, she looked behind her and saw Voldemort getting up again, fury written over his face. _Only a block left,_ she thought to herself. Green flashes kept passing her by as she dodged them and finally entered her walkway to her house. Energy rapidly draining from her, she once again fell onto the snow covered ground, and watched as Voldemort came closer, and kept praying that the barrier would hold.

Mere feet away from her, Voldemort found himself at the front gate, unable to go any further. He fired spells at it, but was unsuccessful. Letting out an enraged yell, he Disapparated. Happiness and relief filled her, enabling her to crawl to the front door, turn the knob, and enter it.

_Wait a minute,_ she thought, _I locked the door. Crap! Is there a Death Eater or something in here?_

Rachel clutched the side of an end table next to the front door and pulled herself up. A familiar voice then called out, "Hello? Is there someone at the door?" It was the voice that always brought comfort to her and happiness bubbled in her.

"Sirius!" she yelled back. "Sirius, I'm by the front door, hurry up!"

He came running into the hallway, black hair hanging elegantly around his face, though his face was written in panic. Once he saw her on the ground, unable to move, he came rushing forward, got down onto the floor next to her, and clutched her tightly. Sirius pulled away, and saw that her arm and leg were covered in blood.

"Oh my god, Rach, what the hell happened?" he asked, voice full of concern.

"I-I was taking a walk," she started and then had to stop. She had so little energy left that it was hard to talk. "And then, V-V-Voldemort attacked me,"

Once again, Sirius clutched her tightly. Rachel started sobbing onto his shoulder, "I thought I was going to die! He did this to me to keep me from moving! I didn't think I would ever see you again!" This didn't last long, for Rachel lost consciousness.

When she woke up later, the pain in her arms and legs was still there, but dull. She felt the familiarity of her plushy bed and soft blankets. Rachel cracked open her eyes and saw Sirius sitting on her bed, watching her, and a large smile erupted on his face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her immediately.

"Not bad. I'm still a little sore, but it's a lot better than earlier," she answered. "How bad did it look?"

"Well, you were really pale and clammy. Your gashes were bleeding profusely, but I cleaned them up and healed them, although it looks like there might be a little infection. I'll have your mom look at it when she gets home."

"Was I out very long?" she asked, almost worrying about the answer.

"You've been out since yesterday," he responded.

Rachel groaned.

"I know I locked the door before I left, so how did you get in without magic? You're not seventeen until January,"

"I used the key that is hidden under the mailbox,"

Just then, she noticed Sirius's luggage sitting in the corner of her room.

"Why is your stuff here?" she questioned, snuggling up to him.

"I had enough of my family, so I decided to run away. I was going to go to James's, but then I decided to see if you guys would take me in,"

"Of course you can. You'll have to stay in the guest room, obviously, but it's totally fine. I remember how your family is,"

Last year, Rachel had stayed at Sirius's house for a couple of nights and could vividly remember how harsh his mother, Walburga, was to her. Orion, his father, seemed pretty decent with Sirius dating a Gryffindor, but that was not the case with Mrs. Black. From the moment she laid eyes on Rachel, she hated her.

"Do you realize," he asked her, putting his arms around her because she was shivering, "that you've been against Voldemort three times and have lived to tell the tale?"

"Yeah, I guess it is an accomplishment. I just wish I didn't have to battle him so much," she admitted.

"I know," he said, and kissed the top of her head. "Get some more sleep, you look exhausted."

Within fifteen minutes, Rachel and Sirius were fast asleep, snuggled up next to each other.

"Ssh, honey, let them sleep. They look so sweet like that," Rachel heard her mom whispering.

"I just don't like a boy lying next to Rachel on her bed, even if they're fully clothed," David whispered back.

"Dad, behave," Rachel said threateningly.

David chuckled. Victoria came forward and said, "I looked at your cuts and they were a little infected, but I slipped you a little something and its fine now."

"Good. What day is it?"

"Christmas Eve," her father answered.

"I've been out for almost two days straight?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Yeah,"

Rachel looked over at Sirius and smiled at her boyfriend's sleeping face.

"He's allowed to stay, right?" she asked her parents, who smiled and nodded.

"You should wake him up and both of you change clothes, we're going to have our Christmas celebration soon," her mom suggested and she and David left the room, leaving Rachel alone with Sirius.

She leaned into Sirius's ear and shouted, "Wake up!"

Sirius jumped awake and said, "Ow! You didn't need to yell so loudly,"

"It's your fault that you're so hard to wake up," she retorted. "My mom got rid of the infection and we're supposed to change clothes because we're having our Christmas celebration soon," she added while crawling out of bed and over to her dresser.

"Okay," he replied, got out of bed, grabbed his suitcase, and made his way to the guest bedroom across the hall.

Rachel chose a white cashmere sweater and some black dress pants. She put on the bracelet and necklace that she had received from Sirius during their two anniversaries and Christmas's. Making sure she still had on the gold promise ring he had given her back in their fifth year, she went downstairs to her family and Sirius.

Rachel went and sat on Sirius's lap, who was sitting on the brown armchair. Her parents were sitting on the couch and the girls were sitting on the floor by the beautifully decorated Christmas tree that had piles of presents beneath it. Once Rachel was comfortable, David stood up and said what he always said at Christmas since that tragic year.

"Let's start by taking a moment of silence for Tommy, who died protecting his sister from Voldemort."

Everyone bowed their head and sat in a dead silence. After a moment, David sat down again while Victoria got up, walked to the tree, and started to deliver presents to people.

Sirius received a large package of Zonko's products from Rachel and her family. Rachel received some clothes and shoes from her family and some Honeydukes sweets from Sirius.

Everyone was in such a cheery mood that it was hard to not join in with the happiness. They all chatted, joked around, and had a delicious meal before going out to sing some carols.

Unfortunately, David and Victoria wanted Rachel to stay at the house since she wouldn't be protected by the barriers and Sirius offered to stay with her, which made Rachel agree.

Once David, Victoria, Angela, and Danielle were dressed properly for going out into the snowy coldness that was Christmas Eve, they said goodbye and left, promising to be back in a couple of hours.

Before Sirius and Rachel could get comfortable for their movie, the doorbell rang. Sirius tensed up, but Rachel said reassuringly, "Sirius, relax. If it was Voldemort or a Death Eater, they would break down the door. It's probably just some carolers."

Rachel got up, walked to the door, and opened it while Sirius sat in the living room, wand out and ready in case he needed it. Once he saw the six people in winter outfits outside, he quickly stashed it away.

The group sang Joy to the World and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Once done, though, Rachel examined the group and saw someone very familiar involved.

"Ben?" she asked, looking towards the man who looked so familiar.

"Rachel? Is that you?" he replied, stepping forward.

"Yeah, it's me!" she exclaimed, and ran forward to give him a large hug. "How are you?" she asked, voice muffled by the hug.

Ben pulled away, fixed his brown hair, and said, "I've been good. How have you been?"

"Overall, pretty amazing," she said, smiling at him. "You look great,"

"Yeah, so do you,"

During this greeting, Rachel hadn't noticed Sirius standing behind her until he cleared his throat. Rachel blushed when she realized what had occurred and said, "Um, Ben, this is my boyfriend, Sirius,"

"Oh," Ben said, looking shocked. He shook hands with Sirius but took his hand back quickly.

"How do you each other?" Sirius asked.

"Well," Rachel answered, feeling very uncomfortable and not making eye contact with anyone. "I dated Ben for a couple of summers. I promise it was before we starting going out," she added quickly.

"Interesting," Sirius said, giving Ben a look that said stay away from my girl.

"Honey, why don't you wait inside while I talk with Ben for a couple of minutes? We haven't seen each other in, like, two and a half years."

Sirius obliged only after he gave Rachel a very passionate kiss.

"Sorry about that. He gets jealous easily," Rachel apologized once Sirius had shut the door.

"No, it's totally fine. I can understand why," Ben replied, giving her a small smile.

An awkward silence fell between them.

"Um, listen, I'll be going away until June, but feel free to give me a call once I get back, and maybe we could get some coffee or something," she offered.

"Yeah, I'd like that. I guess I'll talk to you later," he said, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and went with his caroling party to the next house.

Rachel entered the house, walked into the living room, and glared at Sirius. When he saw this, he said, "What did I do?"

"You were being so rude to him!" she replied. "Yeah, he's my ex-boyfriend, but we're still friends! He was just being friendly,"

"Well, the way he was looking at you, I wanted to get in there so you could tell him that it wasn't going to happen!" he argued.

"I never did that with Cindy Walters!"

"You know what, you're right," he said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that way with one of your friends, even if he is your ex,"

"Thank you," she said. "Besides, you're the only one I want,"


	19. Chapter 19

The next couple of days were very uneventful: they ate their meals, talked and joked around, watched football and movies, and took Sirius to his first football game. It was Oakland vs. Kansas City. Oakland won by 21 points, making them first place in the AFC West division, much to Rachel's delight. The Raiders were favorites for the Super Bowl that year.

The day that they were supposed to leave for Hogwarts again, Dumbledore came by for a visit with Rachel. Once everyone had been cleared from the room and Dumbledore had placed Silencing Charms on all the doors, he looked at Rachel and said very seriously, "I have discovered more evidence,"

Rachel was thrown completely off. This hadn't been what she expected to be discussed.

"I am thinking that this person is under the Imperius Curse and does not linger for a long time inside of Hogwarts. There have been no strange behaviors from students or teachers, so I have come to the conclusion that someone knows a secret passage into Hogwarts. The only people who don't work or attend Hogwarts that visit us are Aurors and I always deal with them directly. If you see anyone out of the ordinary or you see something suspicious, please let me know immediately. I also ask that you don't tell anyone of this."

Rachel could tell how serious he was for there was no smile on his face and no twinkle in his piercing blue eyes.

"I promise, sir," she replied.

"Excellent! Now, I must be returning to Hogwarts. For your safety, I hope I don't have you visiting my office. But if you need to, don't hesitate."

With the swish of his cloak, he gave a smile to Rachel before Disapparating. Rachel performed the countercurse for the Silencing Charm and said, "You guys can come in now!"

David and Victoria rushed in, gave Rachel hugs, and then hurried out the door for work. Sirius came in, grabbed his bags, and together they Flooed back to the Gryffindor tower.

James, Remus, Peter, and Lily were all sitting in the common room waiting for their friends to arrive. When they arrived, they saw a very strange event: Lily was talking nicely with James. Rachel and Sirius cleared their throats to acknowledge their presence and Lily quickly hugged Rachel and whispered, "I need to talk to you later tonight."

"Okay," she replied, let go of Lily, and Lily went off with a couple of girls to walk around. The Marauders and Marauderette greeted each other. Once Sirius and Rachel put their bags into their rooms, they all sat in the boy's dormitory and Rachel was asked questions about that had happened.

Rachel once again went into the story of how Voldemort ambushed her and how she escaped for the third time.

They continued talking into the night until Rachel announced that she was going to her room. She found Lily sitting on the bed across from Rachel's bed. Lily stood up, locked the door, sat next to Rachel on the bed and took a deep breath.

"Lily, what's this about? You look horrified and shocked all at once," Rachel pointed out.

"Well, I think I might be going slightly insane."

"Why?"

"I think I like—someone," Lily said quickly.

"Who is it?" Rachel asked. She was very interested to know who it was. "Is it Snape?"

"No, not anymore. It's, um, it's James," Lily revealed quietly.

"James? As in one of my best friends James Potter?" Rachel questioned, absolutely shocked at what she had heard.

"Yeah,"

"Wow. You know, I never expected it to ever happen," she admitted.

"Well, neither than I," Lily agreed. "But while we were waiting for you and Black to show up, we were having a decent conversation and he was being all mature and I started having feelings for him."

"Are you going to go out with him?"

"No, not yet. You and I both agree that he needs to grow up a little bit. I know Sirius does,"

"They are not as bad as they used to be. Besides, Sirius is so grown-up and sweet, not to mention protective of me. They only prank to blow off some steam, which we all need to do sometimes, Lily,"

"You're right. I won't go out with him this year, but if James stays mature enough, I'll go out with him next year."

"Awesome!" Rachel squealed.

"Rach, you cannot tell anyone about this! BFF promise?" Lily said.

"BFF promise," Rachel agreed and gave her longest best friend a hug. "Now get some sleep and get your mind off of this. You don't need it hanging over your head during Newts classes."

"Okay, night Rach,"

"Night, Lily,"

Time flew by without delay. Homework was still the same, teachers were already urging students to prepare for the end-of-the-year tests, and James and Rachel had to lead up Quidditch practices and managed to make it into the Quidditch finals for the sixth year in a row. There were full moon adventures, occasional Slytherin pranks, and many parties. Rachel went to the Super Bowl during the first Sunday in February to witness Oakland winning their first Super Bowl since 2001. James continued to ask out Lily and she kept turning him down, making Rachel smirk at her and Lily giving her death glares, causing them to burst out laughing and the guys to question them each time about what. Unfortunately, Rachel started to dream of the bloody knife quite often and eventually became afraid to fall asleep for awhile.

On June 15th, Rachel got to skip classes to head to the Weather Center. Amanda wanted Rachel there that day due to a Category 5 hurricane coming to the coast of North Carolina, causing them to call an immediate evacuation of many towns by the coast. Everyone in the Weather Center had to stay to track the fierce storm and send people into the field. Rachel and Amanda were out in the field.

The rain was pouring at three inches an hour, the wind was over 100mph, and the town was completely deserted, making their job much easier. Although, they wouldn't stay for more than a couple of hours since the hurricane was still a Category 5 and almost guaranteed death if they stayed. Rachel got back to Hogwarts that night, freezing cold and soaked to the bone, but once again exhilarated. She wouldn't deny that it was the scariest thing she'd ever dealt with, even Voldemort.

Exams were coming up and Rachel was forced to study into the late hours of the night, and usually lost two to three hours of sleep on average. The fact that Rachel was forced to leave Hogwarts one night for a competition didn't help. It was June 23rd, a couple of days before the first exam.

Rachel was driving back to her house on a side road in the dark, with only the headlights, the radio, and her new 1st place trophy for company. It was very cloudy that night and the moon and stars were hidden from view.

Her blue Mustang was the only car on the road, or at least that what she thought. Suddenly, Rachel heard one of the front tires pop, causing Rachel to try and control the car from spinning out and hitting something.

Surprisingly, she maneuvered the car over to the side of the road without doing any damage to one of her favorite possessions. She put the car in park, clambered out of it, and went around to the front passenger tire and saw it torn into pieces. Grimacing, she went for her wand and remembered that she had left it in possession of Sirius earlier that day.

Rachel used the keys to pop open the trunk and pull out the spare tire. She used the jack to lift the car, got the destroyed tire off, and was starting to put the new tire on when a man said, "Would you like some help, miss?"

She looked up into a very suave and well-dressed man in his mid-twenties. "Yes, some help would be excellent,"

The man took her former position and got the tire screwed on, and got out from under the car and Rachel cranked the car back down onto the ground. While Rachel was forcing the old tire into the trunk along with the jack, the man sneakily pulled out the weapon that Rachel had been dreaming of for months: the foot-long blade. She saw a gleam of silver that reminded her of the dream, turned around, and just barely got out of the way as the man brought the knife down towards her chest.

Rachel looked into his warm brown eyes that had a spaced-out look and she realized something: an innocent man was under the Imperius Curse. She didn't have much time to think though because once again he brought the blade down to her chest again.

Rachel let out a scream, hoping by some odd chance that someone good would hear her and attempt to help. Unfortunately, that help did not come and Rachel realized that she was facing a man with a gigantic butcher knife with no protection. She screamed again as the guy tried to slice her throat. Hurriedly, she tried to get far enough away from the guy to Apparate to the outside of Hogwarts grounds, but the guy wouldn't allow her to get away from him for very long.

She noticed that the darkness seemed to become very thick and intimidating. Rachel turned around for what would've been probably the twentieth time to see her attacker charging at her, knife gleaming somehow in the dark atmosphere around them, but instead saw the area deserted except for the silver car that the man was obviously driving. Terror ,now becoming too familiar for her own comfort, was overcoming her, making her brain fuzzy enough to forget about Disapparating and making her look all around to find where the attacker was hiding.

Rachel turned around to look behind her and before she could react, the man had shoved the butcher knife into her gut, making her body freeze. She brought her hands to where the blade was sticking out of her and felt blood leaking from her new wound. Her legs buckled and she fell into the ditch next to her car. The man merely looked at her and then got into his car and drove away.

Her body was now coming out of shock and pain she never believed possible was erupting in her gut. Using the energy she still had, she forced her arms to pull herself up with the help of her car. Most of her shirt and pants were completely soaked with blood that was rapidly bleeding from her body still. Rachel was not expecting to come out of this alive. Even if the blade missed some vital organs, odds are that she would bleed to death. Having passed her Apparition test with James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily, she focused on the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and turned into nothing. The sensation of being suffocated filled her up and released her when she thought her lungs were going to burst.

Her eyes saw the familiarity of Hogwarts and a sliver of hope filled her. She pushed open the gates and went as fast as possible to the front doors, which wasn't very fast. Rachel's vision was starting to blur and her body starting to shake violently. The blade was still sticking out of her and she knew that the tip of the knife was deep inside of her body. Rachel forced her hands to grip the handle into Hogwarts and pushed one of the large doors open.

The aura of comfortableness and warmness filled Rachel up. Her legs limped forward while her hands went back to clutching her gut, being careful to not push the blade in any further. Hoping someone would come, since she tried calling out to someone but her body didn't have enough willpower to get a voice out of her throat. Rachel fell onto her knees and onto her back, hands still clutching her stomach. Her ears told her that someone was coming towards the entrance hall in which Rachel was dying and heard the voice of James urgently shout while he ran to Rachel's side.

"Sirius, Remus, Peter, get over here right now!"

Rachel eyes that were threatening to close looked into her other closest friend's handsome face. His hazel eyes were looking into hers as he knelt down beside her and whispered, "Come on, Rach. Stay with me, stay with me. Help is coming."

They last thing Rachel heard before closing her eyes was Sirius running to her side, begging for her to not be dead.


	20. Chapter 20

"NO!" James shouted. "No, Rach, wake up!"

He was shaking her body, which was unresponsive. Placing two fingers on her throat, he felt a very faint pulse and was relieved that she was at least alive.

"You guys, help me carry her to the Hospital Wing," James said to Sirius, Remus, and Peter as they came running. He noticed that Sirius had tears streaming down his face and James fought back the ones that threatened to fall from his own eyes.

"James, is she dead?" Peter asked urgently. His face, along with the other Marauders, was as white as a ghost.

"No, I felt a pulse, but if we don't get her any help soon, there's absolutely no chance,"

Remus muttered a Levitating Charm and Rachel's body was on an invisible stretcher above the ground. Sirius grabbed onto one of Rachel's hands while James did the other, and they ran as fast as their legs would allow them to the hospital wing.

Peter shoved open one of the doors to the infirmary and as Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore laid eyes on Rachel's pale and clammy body, they rushed over to her. They placed her body on the nearest bed and Madam Pomfrey went to work.

"What happened here?" she snapped at them as she attempted to pull the blade out without doing more damage.

"I don't know," James replied. "We were walking around and I heard the front door open and went to see who it was when I saw Rach laying on the ground, barely conscious."

James noticed that Sirius was sitting on one of the chairs and it was pulled right next to Rachel's bed. He was clutching one of her hands. Remus and Peter were standing beside him, trying to comfort him. Rachel's lips were becoming blue.

"Her hands are getting cold," Sirius croaked.

At this, James said a silent prayer to God, hoping for her to survive.

(Rachel Pov)

She looked around and saw that the room that surrounded her was her living room. _I can't be at home,_ she thought, _I'm dying at Hogwarts_.

Remembering that she had been stabbed, she looked down and saw that there was no butcher knife sticking out of her gut. At her fireplace, she saw a strange light that did not come from a fire. "Rachel, you shouldn't be here this soon."

Rachel's heart swelled as she recognized that voice, a voice she hadn't heard in almost three years: Tommy's voice.

"Tommy?" she choked out, tears falling down her face. She turned to the direction that the voice came from and saw her brother, the miniature version of David, standing there, also crying. At the same time, they ran at each other and embraced each other tightly.

They stood there, hugging each other while crying into each other's shoulders. Tommy pulled away and led her to the couch and they both sat down. He wiped away some of the tears on her face and asked softly, "Why are you here?"

"I was stabbed by someone under the Imperius Curse," she replied, voice thick with emotion. A silence fell between them, in which they looked into each other's faces, as if trying to memorize every feature in case they were separated again. "Am I able to go back?"

"I don't know," Tommy answered sadly. "If a light appears on the opposite side from the fireplace, then you're able to go back. The light from the fireplace brings you on,"

"On where?"

"I can't tell you. I can tell you though that it's nice. But the Wizarding World needs you. Without you, Voldemort will reign. You and the other Chosen One need to both be alive or else Voldemort will always be victorious. The people you love will suffer so much, and I know you don't want to do that to them."

"It's just so hard," she complained.

"I know it is, but you're the toughest girl I know."

Silence fell over them for a moment. Rachel then broke it when she saw a light across from the fireplace and whispered, "I see the other light."

Tommy smiled at her and said, "Now you have a choice."

Rachel smiled back and felt tears coming in her eyes again. "I don't know which one to choose,"

"I think you should go back. I can't reveal much, but if you go back, you'll need to spend time with Mom and Dad. Besides, your friends, especially Sirius, love you so much. He does, he would die for you. That's a love that doesn't occur very often and you should go back to embrace that. Plus, you can help save the Wizarding World."

"You're right, you're right," she admitted, wiping away the fresh wave of tears that were falling. "I love you so much, Tommy."

Tommy pulled her into another tight hug. "I love you too."

They sat there, hugging on the couch, for what seemed like hours. Finally, knowing that the time had come, Rachel pulled away, kissed her brother on the cheek, and walked toward the light. She heard Tommy say thickly through his tears, "I'll always watch over you," causing her to cry as she felt the pull of life dragging her to it.

She started to cough painfully and tasted the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

"Ow," she croaked, making four people cheer loudly.

Tears were still falling down her face as she remembered Tommy and how brotherly he had been. She tried to take a deep breath to realize how lucky she was to be able to do that, but a sharp pain stopped her from inhaling completely.

"Rach, don't take any deep breaths. Madam Pomfrey is still trying to heal the stab wounds." Remus said.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in her blood-soaked clothes and that the blade was now out of her and sitting in a tray. It looked exactly the same as it was in her dream down to the smallest detail. Madam Pomfrey pulled her wand away and announced that she had healed as much as possible but it was still a waiting game to see how bad the damage was.

"Rach, sweetie, what happened?" Sirius asked after he kissed her on the forehead.

"Well, I was coming back from the competition, which Drew and I won by the way, and I was taking a side road and one of my tires burst. I was changing it and a nice man offered to help. When I was putting the jack and the destroyed tire back into the trunk, he came at me with a knife. After a minute that he hadn't attacked, I turned around to make sure I was able to Apparate and he stabbed me. I know he was under the Imperius Curse because he had a spaced out look."

"Thank you, Rachel. I need to make a few calls." Dumbledore said and left the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey also left now that her work for now was done.

"What happened after you passed out?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, you were all weird at first but then you went completely still," Remus explained.

"Well, I was in my living room and I saw Tommy. We were talking and crying a lot," she said, wiping away the tears that were falling once more. "I could've gone on to the afterlife but I was able to come back. Once I said goodbye to Tommy, I came back here and started coughing up blood."

"Wow," Peter breathed.

"You know, we thought we lost you." James admitted.

"Yeah, you were really cold and clammy, your lips were turning blue and there were times that you weren't even breathing." Sirius said.

"You had lost so much blood," Remus added.

"Speaking of blood," she cut across them. "Why am I still in extremely bloody clothes?"

"Yeah, our first thought was we have to change her clothes," Remus replied sarcastically.

"We'll let you change into some robes," James said, and he, Remus, and Peter pulled the curtain around and waited for her to change in private. Sirius made to leave to when Rachel said,

"Sirius, I'm in a lot of pain and I'm not able to move much. Will you help me out? It's not like you haven't seen me naked before," she added.

He grinned at her and agreed to help. Sirius helped her out of her clothes, into her robes, and into bed again. After that, he pulled back the curtain and allowed the guys to see them again.

"Sirius, does she look good naked?" Peter asked excitedly, earning him a smack from Rachel.

"Would you guys stay with me tonight? I have a feeling that the danger has just started," she asked them and they all agreed.

"I think Voldemort or one of the Death Eaters put that innocent man under that curse and now he'll stop at nothing to get to me," she added.

"You're probably right," Remus said.

"So, while it's peaceful, let's enjoy each other's company," James said, smiling at everyone.


	21. Chapter 21

"No! Don't hurt them!" Rachel screamed, fighting the ropes that bound her.

"_Crucio!" _an unknown Death Eater shouted and once again Rachel's parent's loud screams of pain filled the air. They were also bound by ropes and had had Victoria's wand snapped in half. David and Victoria were still yelling and writhing on the hard ground, tears streaming from their eyes.

"Give yourself up or watch your parents die!" another masked Death Eater demanded.

"No, Rachel, don't do it!" David shouted.

"Don't do it, Rachel! You need to save the Wizarding World!" Victoria yelled.

Rachel just sat there, paralyzed by the ropes, as her parents were basically asking to be killed. The two Death Eaters took her silence as a no and the one who kept torturing Rachel's parents said, "Okay, then, say goodbye to your parents!"

"Rach, we love you!" David and Victoria yelled.

"I love you too!" Rachel sobbed, knowing what was about to happen.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _ the Death Eater shouted and two green flashes struck David and Victoria, making their once struggling and sobbing bodies lay still.

"No!" Rachel screamed, a waterfall of tears falling down her cheeks.

"Come on, let's take her back with the bodies," the other one said.

They roughly pulled Rachel onto her feet, body still bound by the ropes and had the bodies of her dead parents shoved up against her and placed a Portkey on top of their heads, which transported Rachel and the bodies back to her home.

The second that they arrived at Rachel's home, Rachel's knees buckled and she fell to the ground and the bodies of her parents fell on top of her. Due to the positioning, she was forced to look into their permanently shocked faces; the lights that usually filled her mother's green eyes and her father's blue eyes were gone.

Rachel started sobbing again. Being as gentle as possible, she rolled her parents tied up bodies off of her and crawled for her wand, which was merely a few inches from her. She gripped it tightly and used a charm to cut the ropes from her body, freeing herself. Then she proceeded to do the same with her parents. After that, she levitated them into the empty house, up the stairs, and into their bedroom and laid them down on their bed. Rachel took her fingers and lightly closed each of their eyelids and then almost fell down the stairs as she went to call her boyfriend and most trusted friend, Sirius Black.

She bent down in front of her stone fireplace that was already lit from earlier that night. The fire was the only source of light in warm and cozy living room. Rachel grabbed some green powder and said, "James Potter's house!"

There was a spinning sensation that stopped after a minute. Rachel was looking into the kitchen of Mr. and Mrs. Potter's house. She saw James and Sirius sitting at the table, looking thoroughly surprised by this event.

"Hey, Rach!" James said excitedly. Then he noticed her wiping the tears out of his face and concern filled his face, along with Sirius's.

"Rach, why are you crying?" Sirius asked concernedly.

"M-my parents," she said through her sobs.

"What about them? Are they okay?"

Rachel shook her head, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Okay, we'll be there in a minute," James said, and Rachel pulled her head out of the fireplace.

Suddenly, she wondered how she would tell Angela and Danielle about Mom and Dad. The thought of that conversation devastated Rachel to an extreme degree. Luckily, they two of them were in Diagon Alley with Lily and her parents. She knew that it would probably be today unless she sent the girls to a friend's house.

Just then, the fireplace lit up with green flames and James and Sirius crawled out of it. Deciding that there needed to be more light in the dark living room (it was nighttime), she turned on one of the table lamps with a rich red lampshade. Light erupted and revealed the amazingly clean living room.

Sirius crossed the room in two steps and pulled Rachel into a tight hug. James also came up and hugged her from behind. They both pulled away and asked, "What's going on?"

Instead of answering them, for fear of bawling again, she brought her numb body up the stairs, indicating for the guys to follow. She led them to her parent's bedroom and went by their closet and heard both James and Sirius gasp. Unable to look at her parent's bodies again, she turned away from the bed and allowed more tears to fall. Rachel could hardly believe it: she'd lost her parents and older brother from this war. Voldemort was targeting everyone who would die to protect her and it infuriated her to no end.

"How? H-how?" James stuttered.

"A couple hours ago," Rachel started. "We were taking our nightly walk around the neighborhood when two Death Eaters ambushed us. I had left my wand at home and they'd summoned her wand before she could react. They took us to this park and proceeded to tie us up. One of them tortured them and forced me to watch." At this point, Rachel's voice became thick from emotion. "After a couple of hours, they said if I gave myself up that they'd let my parents go. They were screaming at me to not do it. Before I could even answer, they k-killed them and we got back via Portkey."

Sirius came up to her and embraced her tightly, thinking of how devastating this summer had become. Everyone had passed their exams, they'd gotten together a few times, and always had a good time. Now, Rachel's defenses would be lowered, meaning a higher chance of more attacks, meaning more deaths, and they couldn't afford any more deaths. For now though, he stroked her hair as she clutched onto him, sobbing again.

Five days later, on the day of August 2nd, they had the funerals for David and Victoria Delancy. Many people attended and Rachel gave a beautiful speech that had almost everyone in their seats tearing up. According to the lawyer, Rachel now had custody of her younger siblings and took up the responsibility. Although, since she would be gone for a vast majority of the year, Lily's parents agreed to take Danielle and Angela in. Angela was supposed to start Duffletown this year but wanted to wait another year now.

The Marauders were spending so much time with Rachel after the funerals that they practically lived there. Sirius had agreed to move in with Rachel so she'd have protection 24/7. Unfortunately, Rachel barely came out of her bedroom and slept from most of the day.

On the day of August 28th, just three days before they left for their final year at Hogwarts, the Marauders sat downstairs in the living room while Rachel was upstairs sleeping.

"I can't believe she's still like this," Peter said.

"Wormtail, it's hard for her," Remus responded. "She watched her brother get killed, then saw his ghost or something during the battle a couple of years ago, then saw him again when she almost died a couple of months ago, and now she was forced to watch her parents be tortured and then killed. It's enough to make anyone act this way."

"Not to mention she feels guilty about their deaths," Sirius added. "She feels that if it wasn't for her, the Prophecy wouldn't have been made, therefore Voldemort wouldn't have gone after her that one night, meaning that Tommy would still be alive. Then, her parents were tortured and killed because Rach refused to give herself up."

"Once the year gets started, I think she'll be better." James said. "Besides, my parents told me that there's something going on this year that will get everyone excited."

"Ooh, what is it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, they wouldn't tell me. Dumbledore should be telling us about it after the sorting. Guess what, though? I'm Head Boy."

"What? No way!" the others said, shocked.

"Yeah, I got the badge and everything."

"Oh man, Lily's gonna be ticked off," smirked Sirius.

The following days until Hogwarts were uneventful. The Marauders had had their luggage delivered to Rachel's house so they could stay there for the last couple of days. With some persuasion, they were able to get Rachel up and moving. They could tell that she was starting to cheer up when she was around people. After she made them breakfast, they piled their luggage into Rachel's dark blue 2009 Mustang, and she drove them to King's Cross station. Lily's father offered to bring it back to the house so she left the car keys with him.

Once Rachel said goodbye to Angela and Danielle, she got into the train with her friends. They made their way to the last compartment which they occupied every year. James told her about the mystery event once the train got going and it grabbed her interest. For the entire train ride, they talked about what it could be.

They soon arrived at Hogwarts and went through the usual routine: drop bags off in entrance hall, watch the sorting, eat a large feast, and wait for Dumbledore to do his speech. This time, he talked about something new.

"Unfortunately, there will be no Quidditch this year."

Rachel and James looked outraged along with all of the other Quidditch players from the different houses.

"Although, something else will be happening at Hogwarts that I think you'll find enjoyable. It gives me great pleasure to announce that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament."

Chatter and excitement went through the Great Hall.

"Now, after much collaboration, we've agreed that no student under the age of 17 will be allowed to enter their names for the tournament. On Saturday, the ninth of October, we will be having some students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrive. Then students will be allowed to submit their names. On October 16th, we will announce the champion of each school. There will be an age line around the decider, so underage students should be warned to not enter their name. With that, I'll dismiss you to your rooms."

The sound of benches scraping against the stone floor filled the Hall, making it almost impossible to hear anyone talking. Once everyone made it to Gryffindor tower, Rachel went into the boy's dormitory for their annual start-of-term discussion.

"I take it you guys are entering the tournament too?" Rachel asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hell yeah!" James and Sirius replied.

"I'm not going to," Remus said. "I want to make sure I do okay on my N.E.W.T.s this year,"

"Yeah, me too," Peter agreed.

"I heard that if you get selected, you don't have to do the exams or tests at the end of the year," Rachel said, grinning.

"Awesome!" Sirius shouted.

"Yeah, no torturous testing," James agreed.

"Well, I'll let you other boys think about it, but I'm definitely entering my name," Rachel said, and with a wave she left the room and went into the girl's dorm, where Lily was already sleeping and also fell asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

The weeks until the arrival of the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were filled with excitement about the tournament. Many people were doing some research on it and discovered that over half of the people who had participated in it had died and that it hadn't been held in over three hundred years. Other students were making predictions on what the tasks would be. None of the excited atmosphere had died away as the day of October 9th arrived.

Students had to be dressed in their Hogwarts attire and look their best as they waited outside for the arrival of the students. Suddenly, someone in the front pointed to something in the sky and said, "Look, it's a flying house!"

"No it's not! It's a carriage!" another one shouted.

The latter proved to be correct. It was a pale blue very large carriage pulled by four palomino horses. A door opened and a small boy ran out of it and pulled down some steps that came from the carriage. A very large woman came out of it. She was as large as Hagrid, if not taller. Blue and silver robes were her choice of clothing and she immediately greeted Dumbledore like old friends. Soon after, about twenty students wearing pale blue robes came climbing out of the carriage. The large woman led them inside the castle.

Rachel couldn't help but notice that the females from Beauxbatons were very beautiful. She glanced over at her male friends, all of whom had mouths hanging open and watching them. Deciding to end this funny picture, Rachel pinched Sirius, who was on her right, quite hard. He looked shocked at what had happened and started blushing. All Rachel did was grin at him and then pinched James, who was on her left. James had the same reaction as Sirius and once again Rachel grinned.

As soon as the students from Beauxbatons entered the castle, a gigantic ship that resembled the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean popped up from the lake. The captain steered the ship to the shore and about twenty good-looking guys climbed out of it wearing deep red robes that were fur-lined.

Another man came out after them wearing the same outfit but also had a long walking stick with a large red marble on top. The man had a pointed goatee and black hair with streaks of gray running through it. He too greeted Dumbledore like an old friend and led his students into the castle. Regardless of how handsome the Durmstrang students were, Rachel kept her composure which meant Sirius was in the dark about it.

Dumbledore led the Hogwarts students into the Great Hall again. They took their seats at their house tables before the other schools came in. Many of the Beauxbatons students sat at the Ravenclaw table, but one girl sat across from Rachel next to Lily. She had platinum blonde hair, she was the same height as Rachel, and had warm chocolate eyes. The unfamiliar girl smiled at Rachel and held out her hand and said, "Hello, my name is Madeline Zimon."

Rachel took her hand and shook it while saying, "Hi, I'm Rachel Delancy."

Rachel released her hand and started introductions, indicating who she was talking about as she talked.

"This is my boyfriend, Sirius Black. And the messy haired boy next to him is James Potter. The boy you're sitting next to is Remus Lupin and the one next to Remus is Peter Pettigrew. Also, the redhead next to you is Lily Evans."

Madeline waved at them with a small smile.

Dumbledore announced that after dinner tonight, students would be allowed to submit their names for the tournament. He unveiled the Goblet of Fire, which would be the decider. Students were to write their name and school on a bit of paper and submit it into the Cup. With the clap of his hands, dozens of plates of food appeared on the table.

"So, Madeline—" Rachel started.

"Please, call me Maddie," she insisted.

"Okay, Maddie, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I'm from Beauxbatons, which is in France. Luckily, I haven't picked up their accent. I turned seventeen last November and I'm in my final year of schooling. Now you tell me some things,"

"Um, I'm also seventeen. My eighteenth birthday is one week from today. I'm in my final year of Hogwarts along with my friends."

"Wow, so how was your summer?" Maddie asked.

Rachel's face immediately fell and the Marauders and Lily looked up from their food, faces tense.

"Um, Maddie, do you get much news about what happens in America?" Remus asked quietly.

"No, not really. We find out a couple of things but not much."

"Well, Rachel is what people are calling 'The Chosen One.'" Sirius explained.

"Oh my gosh, you are," Maddie realized, suddenly looking sympathetic. "I heard what happened, I'm sorry I mentioned the summer."

"No, Maddie, it's okay. I'm expecting more of those reactions, so don't feel bad about it."

Most of dinner consisted of Maddie chatting rapidly with both Rachel and Lily, leaving the guys stunned at how fast and how long women could talk. Once dinner had been removed from the tables, Lily asked, "Maddie, if it's okay with Dumbledore, would you like to share a dorm with me and Rach?"

"Yeah, I'd love it!" Maddie exclaimed.

"You know Lily, since you're Head Girl, I'm sure Dumbledore would be fine with it." Rachel pointed out as they made their way to the Headmaster, leaving the boys to head up to Gryffindor tower without them.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir?" Lily said at the staff table.

"Yes, Miss Evans, what can I help you with?"

"Well, Rach and I were wondering if Maddie could share a dorm with us,"

"I think that should be okay," Dumbledore replied, smiling at the three girls. "I will alert Madame Maxime of these arrangements."

"Thanks, Professor." Rachel replied, and she and Lily led Maddie up to Gryffindor tower. There was an extra bed and Maddie's luggage was next to it. "I'm gonna go talk with the guys, I'll see you two later,"

Rachel ran into the boy's dorm and found them all sitting on their beds, waiting patiently for her to arrive.

"Sorry for blowing you guys off like that," she said and gave Sirius a kiss. "Maddie's sharing a dorm with me and Lily."

"Ooh, all the more reason to sneak in." James said, earning a pillow to the face from Rachel.

"See, Rach, it's gonna be hard for us guys when we know that there are three extremely beautiful girls undressing just feet away from us," Sirius added.

"Fine. Just don't expect to be seeing your girlfriend like that for a while. First time you go in there, feel the wrath that is Rachel," Rachel said and left the room without saying goodnight. She heard Remus say, "You know, Padfoot, she's right. You don't want to get on her bad side."

Rachel chuckled to herself and went into the dorm to find the other two occupants were fast asleep in the dark and she decided to join them.

During the days until October 16th, Rachel, James, Sirius, and Maddie all entered their names for the tournament. Maddie made the guys jealous by mentioning that she didn't have to take classes this year if she stays at Hogwarts for the tournament. The Marauders threw Rachel a surprise birthday party on Friday night. Her friends and the Quidditch team were all there in the festive and colorful Room of Requirement. After an hour of partying, the Marauders and Marauderette snuck out to The Three Broomsticks disguised as Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, DADA professor Huard, and Sprout.

So far the disguise was holding up because Rosmerta had not realized that she was selling them all Firewhisky, which was illegal for four people at the table. Unfortunately, the real Dumbledore chose that moment to peek his head in. Rosmerta was busy in the back room so she did not notice this, but Dumbledore noticed the panicking students, smiled, and merely left the bar.

The next morning though, the group showed up in the Great Hall to see a . . . interesting event: Sirius dancing to "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred. Better yet, Sirius was doing it in pink boxers with white hearts. Rachel's eyes searched around for the person who could be doing this and saw Dumbledore's chair was empty. A laugh crept onto her face when she realized this. At one point, Dumbledore, disguised as Sirius, pulled down the side of elastic waistband just enough to see a red g-string underneath the boxers. All of the girls were practically fainting. Once the song ended, the Dumbledore Sirius took a bow and left the Great Hall. Another minute later, he came back normal and in his regular wizard robes.

Excitement was filling the atmosphere as the students from all three schools sat in the Great Hall, waiting for the Goblet of Fire to make its choice. Dumbledore revealed that the heads of the three schools: Dumbledore, Maxime, and Karkaroff would be judging the tasks along with Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Sr.

The Hall had never been dead quiet as the golden cup with different colored jewels sat there, flames still blue, waiting for them to turn red and announce the first competitor. Suddenly, the flames turned red and a small piece of paper flew out of it and Dumbledore caught it in his hand. His eyes looked at it and announced, "Adam Spade from Durmstrang!"

The group of guys sitting at the Slytherin table exploded into cheers as one of the muscular guys stood up and walked through the door that Dumbledore had indicated earlier. After Adam went through the door by the staff table, the Great Hall fell silent once again.

Another minute later, the flames turned red and emitted another piece of paper. Dumbledore caught it and read out, "Madeline Zimon from Beauxbatons!"

Rachel and Lily cheered loudly along with the other students from Beauxbatons. Maddie walked through the door to join Adam. Silence fell over the room again as the Goblet of Fire turned red for the last time and released the last competitor. Dumbledore caught the last paper and smiled as he read out, "Rachel Delancy from Hogwarts!"

Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and especially Gryffindor erupted in cheers since Rachel was one of the most popular girls in school. James and Sirius lifted Rachel onto their shoulders and carried her to the door. Once she was put down, she hugged them both and walked through the door.

Rachel walked through a small hall lit with torches and came upon a room she didn't even know was there. There was a gigantic fireplace that was lit and Maddie and Adam were standing by it. She smiled as she thought that Adam and Maddie would look good together. Both of them turned at the same time to see who the third champion was and the moment Maddie saw Rachel, she squealed and gave Rachel a hug that nearly knocked her off her feet.

Once Maddie released her, Rachel turned to Adam and said, "Hi, I'm Rachel Delancy. Nice to meet you,"

She held out her hand.

"Hi, Rachel. I'm Adam Spade,"

Instead of shaking her hand, he pulled her into a hug, which Rachel returned once she got over the shock. _He smells really good,_ she thought to herself. Once he pulled away, he responded to her shocked look by saying,

"I heard what happened over the summer. I'm really sorry about that. But now the three of us have bond that no one else can understand and I hope we can become good friends regardless of the competitiveness."

"Wow, that's really sweet, Adam," Maddie said, smiling at him.

Before they could talk more, the door opened revealing the five judges. Ludo Bagman, looking very excited, almost like a little boy in a candy shop, said, "Congratulations, champions! You will be participating in the first task on November 22nd. Unfortunately, we won't tell you what it is because courage in the face of the unknown is important in a wizard and witch. Also, I'd like to mention that now that you're in this tournament, there's no turning back."

"Yes, thank you Ludo, now let's let these students go to their schools. I'm sure there'll be large parties for them to enjoy." Barty added with a wink.

The three champions, smiling at each other, walked out of the room. After agreeing to hang out during the next Hogsmeade trip, the three champions made their separate ways to celebrate. Maddie agreed to come back to Gryffindor after the party.

Once Rachel arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, she braced herself for an explosion of noise that she knew was waiting inside. She said the password after the Fat Lady congratulated her and the portrait swung open, revealing the explosion of noise that Rachel had predicted. Hands pulled her in and someone shoved a butterbeer into her hand. People were hugging her and patting her on the back.

Rachel made her way through the crowd and found the Marauders waiting for her, butterbeers in hand. They all pulled her into a large hug at once and it reminded Rachel of suffocation.

"To Rachel, our Hogwarts champion!" James shouted, lifting his butterbeer into the air.

Everyone started cheering again and some music came on.

Everyone partied until 2 o'clock in the morning. There was dancing, eating, and drinking. The only reason they went to bed is because McGonagall told them to. Rachel fell asleep thinking that it had been the best birthday ever.


	23. Chapter 23

The Hogsmeade trip took place the next weekend. Rachel showed Maddie and Adam around and then they had a couple of drinks in The Three Broomsticks. James and Sirius were flirting with the bartender, Madam Rosmerta, as usual, but Sirius immediately stopped when he saw Rachel sitting with Adam. In a recent conversation, James and Remus had revealed that Sirius considered Adam as a threat even though she could tell that Adam was showing slight romantic interest in Maddie.

They arrived back at the school red-faced and looked as though they had had an awesome time. Rachel then left Maddie and Adam to do her piling homework in the Gryffindor common room.

As the first task approached, anyone who took one look at any of the champions could tell that they were stressed and anxious. In fact, Rachel had become so on-edge that the Marauders had to be extremely careful around her. If they even said something in a wrong tone, she would snap at them and storm out of the room.

"Why are you so giddy?" Remus asked James as he practically skipped into the boy's dormitory with a large smile on his face.

"Well, Mr. Moony, if you must ask, Lily has agreed to go with me on our next Hogsmeade trip."

"No way!" the guys said in unison.

When Rachel hadn't joined in with their shock, they looked at her, obviously confused.

"Why aren't you more shocked?" Sirius voiced.

"I knew it was going to happen," she replied simply.

"You knew?"

"Yeah, due to a certain conversation I had with Lily not too long ago," she added slyly.

Unfortunately, the seemingly good mood Rachel was in didn't last.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked James.

"Well, I'm sorry," she said heatedly. "It must've slipped my mind while I've been worrying about the first task which just happens to be tomorrow!"

Once she had said this, she stormed out of the room without saying goodnight to hopefully get a decent night of sleep.

Rachel woke up the next morning after everyone had already went downstairs for breakfast feeling dread and anxiety over today's task. She went through her daily morning routine and went down to the Great Hall where her friends were all sitting feeling slightly numb. As she sat down between James and Sirius, both gave her hugs, Rachel noticed that Maddie was picking at her food looking pale. They were both unusually quiet as breakfast commenced and their friends decided to follow suit so neither of the champions snapped.

Immediately after breakfast, Dumbledore announced that all of the champions were to head down to the Quidditch field. Lily said good luck to Rachel and Maddie while James, Remus, and Peter gave Rachel hugs and Sirius gave her a kiss.

The girls met up with Adam at the exit out of the Great Hall and walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Rachel leading them since they had no idea where it was at. When Rachel saw what was in it, she wanted to cry. It no longer looked like a Quidditch field, but a very large corn maze. Apparently, the other two saw her reaction and reassured her that it would probably be normal after the tournament. McGonagall ushered them into a tent with three cots. They each sat down on one and became very quiet, dreading what was going to happen in the maze.

Rachel could hear the students piling into the stands around the field and outburst at the state of it, meaning the maze. Most were chatting excitedly and energetically and Rachel suddenly felt distant from them, as if she were a different species. _You signed up for this though,_ a voice in her head mentioned.

While students were still arriving, Ludo Bagman came into the tent to explain the first task.

"Well everyone, I'm sure you've been anticipating this day for some time now," he said, glee in his voice, completely oblivious to the pale and nervous faces watching him with a glare. "As I'm sure you saw, we have constructed a corn maze. Your goal is to find one of the golden eggs that are hidden inside.

"We've put up certain charms that make it unable for you to blast down the corn to get somewhere. There will be clues hidden in different places along with different obstacles that you will be forced to face. I have inserted your names into this bag here," he indicated a black velvet pouch, "and we will draw to see who goes first. The first one to enter will be . . ."

Ludo pulled out one of the three sheets of paper.

"Adam Spade,"

The girls gave him small smiles which he returned through his nervousness.

"The second one will be . . . Rachel Delancy,"

Maddie gave her a hug.

"Which means that Madeline Zimon will be going last. Remember, no Unforgivable Curses. There will be a guard standing by so if you get serious injured, send red sparks into the air and the nearest person will come fetch you."

He gave them one last smile before going out onto the field. After a moment, Ludo's unforgettable voice boomed out across the grounds.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first of three tasks in the Triwizard Tournament!"

There was a large applause and lots of whistling.

"The task that the champions must complete today is very simple: collect the golden egg. If one of them is forced to withdraw from the task, they will receive the lowest score but will receive their egg anyway. Now, at the sound of the gun, our first champion will begin."

BANG! The starting shot fired into the air. Adam, white-faced but looking determined, pulled out his wand and walked out onto the field to lots of cheering from the Durmstrang students in their fur uniforms.

Not being able to see what was going on made everything more horrible than it actually was. The audience cheered, gasped, and even screamed on occasion. Every time someone gasped or screamed, Maddie would always looked up at Rachel with a terrified look in her eyes. Rachel wanted to say something, but every time she tried to form words, a huge lump would form in her throat, making it impossible for her to speak.

Little phrases from Ludo, who was doing commentary, made Rachel wonder what was in that maze. "Ooh that looked like it hurt!" or "That was a good move, too bad it didn't work!" and then the actual reactions from the crowd all made the tension and panic rise higher and higher.

Rachel was jolted to her senses and jumped when the sound of the Durmstrang students cheering madly cut through the air.

"Judges, please give your scores!"

They didn't announce the scores, but they couldn't have been bad because there was a fair amount of cheering and clapping outside. Adam came into the tent looking tired but very pleased. Rachel could see that he had a couple of burns and gashes. He came over to her, grabbed both of her hands and said, "Good luck. You're going to need it,"

"Wha—?" she started but was cut off when Ludo's voice came into the microphone again.

"Now, welcome our second champion, Rachel Delancy!"

A _bang!_ cut through the deafening sound of cheering and whistling. Rachel walked out onto the Quidditch field feeling extremely nervous and her whole body was slightly shaking. As soon as she looked into the crowd, she saw Sirius's face beaming down at her, and that gave her enough motivation to run into the maze that she had been so edgy about.

She ran for about 20 yards before coming to a fork. Her instinct was telling her to go to the right and decided to go with it. Rachel ran at a comfortable pace, wand out and lit, making sure that she wasn't going to be surprised by some unknown obstacle. A thunderous roar filled the air and Rachel realized what she was dealing with: a dragon.

Ludo had said that the corn couldn't be burned and the walls were so high and the paths so wide that Rachel wouldn't be able to see the dragon until she came face-to-face with it, something she wanted to avoid. Legs feeling wobbly, she took off.

In the background, she could hear Ludo saying stuff in the microphone, but Rachel couldn't make out a single word that was being said. It was like she had lost some of her hearing, but she knew it was the nerves.

After what seemed like an hour but in reality was only about five minutes, Rachel saw a glimpse of something gold as she was running. She braked and walked backward to the path she had just passed and laid eyes on the golden egg.

Excitement and relief rushed through her and she ran toward it as fast as her legs would allow. Unfortunately, only a matter of feet away from the egg, a spiked tail of a dragon came and knocked Rachel into the air and slammed into one of the hardened walls of the maze. The dragon had knocked the breath out of her and she just barely missed the breath of fire sent at her.

Rachel heard screaming and gasps from the crowd that watched her from outside of the maze. She shoved herself up onto her feet again and tried to do some quick thinking on how to get past the obstacle. Ignoring the scratch she had received on her arm, she threw some ideas around while the dragon watched her with interest.

_What's something that would work against a dragon? Think Rachel, think!_ a voice said inside of her head. Then the answer hit her: a Conjunctivitis Curse.

She raised her phoenix wand at the dragon and said, "_Conjunctus!"_

A flash of white light flew into the dragon's eyes, making it blind. Unable to see, it was moving around violently and Rachel had to watch her timing so as not to get trampled by its weight. In a split second decision, she ran forward to the egg. Her hands got a grip on it at the exact same time that the dragon's tail crashed into her.

She flew backward and felt an excruciating pain in her stomach. Rachel looked down and saw that her champion robes were ripped along the stomach area and there was a huge gash there. The pain was intensifying with every nanosecond since her body had not fully healed from her life-threatening injury during June.

While on her way back to Hogwarts, an Imperiused man caught Rachel without her wand and ended up stabbing her in the gut with a foot long butcher knife. The extent of the injury was so severe that Rachel had been mere inches away from death. Using her shaking arm, she pointed her wand into the air and sent red sparks up.

Rachel clutched the egg closer to her body, almost as if it would heal the slash that was on her stomach. She realized that the crowd was very quiet and seemed on edge. Unable to tell if they had seen her grab the egg, she slumped back against one of the walls just as McGonagall and Slughorn appeared in the maze and came running to her.

The pain was getting so bad that she started to throw up not only vomit, but blood. She heard McGonagall murmur something and she felt the pain ease a tiny bit. Then, both professors grabbed a hold of her and Apparated her straight to the tent.

Once the invisible bands around her lungs faded, Rachel saw that she was inside the champion's tent. Maddie saw her and gasped, as did Adam. She was laid down onto a bed and Madam Pomfrey came rushing over and started mumbling spells and giving Rachel potions to ingest.

In a couple of minutes, the pain had completely gone away and the gash had been healed spectacularly. With some help from Adam, who ended up supporting most of Rachel's weight due to blood loss, she went outside to receive her scores.

Everyone started cheering when they saw her come out onto the field. Adam pointed to where the judges were sitting and they waited for the scores.

Dumbledore: 9

Madam Maxime: 9

Karkaroff: 8

Ludo Bagman: 10

Barty Crouch: 9

"Awesome job, Rach!" Adam yelled over the noisy cheering that came from the crowd.

"Thanks! How'd you do?" she replied, grinning up at the four Marauders that were wolf-whistling.

"I got one point less than you," he answered as he led her back inside of the tent.

"Good luck, Maddie! Be careful," warned Rachel as she sat down on the cot next to Adam.

The _bang_ that signaled the next champion's start had come through the air and Maddie walked out of the tent, looking absolutely terrified. She had good reason: the first champion gets moderate burns and a couple of scratches and the second champion gets slashed up on the arms and a large wound around the midsection causing major blood loss. Adam and Rachel made eye contact and silently said: _I hope she doesn't get injured as bad as us._

According to Adam, Ludo's commentary was pretty much the same each time, with only a few details changed since the champions were facing the same thing, just using different tactics. Once again, although this time not wanting to vomit, she listened to the reactions of the crowd, and felt pleased when the crowd started to cheer loudly.

Another minute later, McGonagall escorted Maddie inside of the tent. From what Rachel could see, Maddie received a couple of burns on her arms and face, but that was pretty much it. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to her, quickly put some pinkish cream on the burns, and allowed Maddie to sit next to Rachel and Adam.

"Come on, let's get your score," Rachel said before Maddie had a chance to sit.

Together, arms around each other's shoulders, they exited the tent and watched as the judges gave Maddie the same score has Adam.

"Awesome job!" they said simultaneously back in the tent.

"Thanks! I was really terrified after what happened to you two, especially you, Rach," she admitted.

"Oh, it was okay," Rachel responded, waving a nonchalant hand into the air. When the two stared at her, she added, "Well, no, it pretty much sucked,"

The judges came inside, all looking extremely pleased. Ludo handed the eggs that all of the champions had retrieved to the three and said, "Congratulations all of you! I don't think there's ever been a competition where the first task has been so close! Now, you'll be getting a break since the next competition won't be until February 22nd. Although, I suggest that you don't procrastinate working on the next task. The egg is your clue to help you prepare. Once again, congratulations!" He flashed them a huge smile and the judges all left the tent. Up above, the students were starting to pile up.

"I think you should hurry off to celebrate with your schools before the Marauders run you over trying to get to me," Rachel advised the other two, a grin tugging at her lips. They looked a little frightened and then ran off with the groups of students waiting for them. Luckily they had run off because not even a moment later, all four Marauders came bursting into the tent, smiling from ear-to-ear.

James, Remus, and Peter all tried hugging the life out of Rachel while Sirius stood back a little, smirking at the situation. Deciding that now was one of the moments to show that her friends had had some effect on her, Rachel transformed into her Animagus form, a cat, and ran between someone's legs as the three boys clunked heads.

"Hey!" they said, shocked, rubbing their heads.

"It was your fault that you tried to practically kill me by hugging me!" she replied, amusement in her voice. "Besides, I haven't even gotten one from Sirius yet," and she threw a sad look his way.

Smiling at her remark, he came forward and embraced her.

"Hmm, I'm all better now," she said, and pecked him on the lips.

"Want to hear something fun?" he asked as pulled away and then put an arm around her waist and grinned up at James, who blushed.

"Ooh, what's making James blush?" she questioned playfully.

"Well, as we were sitting there—" Sirius started.

"Lily came up and sat next to James and turned up the flirt factor," Remus finished, cheekily grinning.

Rachel's beautiful blue eyes suddenly lit up.

"Aw, two of my best friends, isn't it sweet?" she joked in a mock baby voice.

"Oh, so we're going to start this now?" he said, pulling out his wand.

"Sure. I know you wouldn't do anything too serious for two reasons: I'm one of your best friends and Sirius and Lily would kill you." She replied, also pulling out a wand.

"Oh yeah?" and he shot a spell at her that she blocked with a lazy flick of her wand and shot a jinx at him so quickly that he didn't have time to block it. Everyone started laughing at his turquoise hair.

"Ha ha. I should've remembered," said James as he performed the countercurse. "I started something up with the girl who has survived Voldemort's wrath . . . three times."

Rachel's face dropped. She knew that he was trying to lighten up the previous situations, but she'd lost three people she loved in two of those battles and almost lost the love of her life in another. James obviously saw this because he hastily said,

"Rach, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I was being stu—"

"Oh just shut up," she said amusingly and performed a non-verbal Silencing Charm. Then they walked up to the castle to join the large party in the Gryffindor tower.


	24. Sapphires and Diamonds

"Anyway," James inserted, wanting to get to another subject. "Rach, Padfoot, we were wondering if you would double date with me and Lily. That was one of the agreements so that Rach could keep me under control if necessary."

Sirius put an arm around Rachel and pulled her back so that her head was resting against his fit chest. They communicated silently for a minute before saying, "Yeah, that'd be fine."

"It's on Saturday, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Sirius answered.

When Saturday finally came, Rachel and Lily, dressed in fur-lined coats since it was snowy and cold, walked down to the common room to meet up with their dates. The boys smiled at them as they took the girls' hands and led them down to Hogsmeade.

"So, where should we go?" Rachel asked, shivering slightly.

"I don't know, you two have been having the dates here for almost three years," Lily replied, shrugging.

"Ooh, let's go to Madam Puddifoot's!"

They arrived in a small coffee shop that was decorated in Christmas decorations. The four took up a booth in a secluded corner of the shop.

"I'll get us some coffees." James offered.

"I'll come too," Rachel said and followed James to the counter.

Meanwhile, Sirius was having a conversation with Lily.

"Lily, can I ask for your help with something?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm not helping with your next prank!" she said immediately.

A tiny smile tugged at his lips but he regained his composure. "No, this is anything but a joke."

Lily looked up at him and was shocked at how serious he looked.

"I was wondering, um, if you would, um, possibly, um—"

"Spit it out!"

Sirius looked around them to make sure that no one was near by before saying, "I was wondering if you would help me pick out an engagement ring for Rachel."

Lily looked happily stunned. Her mouth burst into a wide smile and softly said, "You're going to propose to Rachel?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh my gosh, I would love to help!" she said without hesitation.

"You would? That would be great because you've known her a lot longer than I have and you tell each other everything." Sirius replied, relieved.

"So, when do you want to do it?"

"Well, I know James wants to buy you something here, but he wants it to be a surprise, so you have to act surprised," he added quickly, "I think he'll take Rach with and I found a ring store not too far from here."

"Sounds great. I'm really good with knowing Rachel's taste in jewelry; that's what happens when you've been best friends with her since we were little four year olds."

Just then, Rachel and James came back with four coffees. For about an hour, they chatted, joked around, and had an awesome time.

"Um, I have to make a stop," James said suddenly. "Rach, will you help me out?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, looking confused.

The two, after kissing their dates goodbye, left whispering to each other.

"Okay, let's go do this." Lily said and she left with Sirius to go to the ring shop. Another minute later, they arrived in an elegant looking tiny shop called Forever. Together, they entered into the store.

The floors were dark wood and the walls were covered with cream colored wallpaper with stylish designs. There were about five medium sized display cases featuring different kinds of jewelry. A stylishly dressed woman in her late twenties with a kind face said, "Hello, how may I help you?"

"Yes, hello, I'm here to help a friend of mine pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend," Lily said, indicating Sirius.

"I'd be happy to help," the sales clerk said. "Now, most men go with the simple diamond with gold," she indicated the gold rings with diamonds. "But I honestly like having a diamond with one of my favorite other gemstones. What is your girlfriend's preference?"

"Sapphires," Sirius answered.

"Excellent, good taste. Well, we have a gorgeous gold ring with two round sapphires on the sides of a beautiful heart diamond. Superb quality and sure to make her swoon."

The sales clerk pulled out a stunning ring that perfectly matched her description. As Sirius looked at it, he could almost see Rachel's face light up with joy at the sight of it.

"What do you think, Lily? Do you think she'll like it?" Sirius asked.

"She'll adore it," Lily replied, looking close to happy tears.

"How much is it?"

"30 galleons," the sales lady answered.

"20," Sirius bargained.

"29,"

"23"

"25 and that's my last offer,"

"Done," Sirius agreed and pulled out the amount and handed it to the clerk. She placed the ring in a white leather ring box and handed it to him. He pocketed it inside of his jacket.

"Good luck," the lady called as Sirius and Lily exited the store. They started walking towards the main part of Hogsmeade.

"So, give me details. When are you going to ask?" Lily insisted.

"On our anniversary,"

"Do you know what you're going to say?"

"I have an idea,"

"Ooh, can I hear it?" she asked eagerly.

Before he could answer, Rachel and James came running up to them, cheeks pink from the cold. James handed a bag to Lily while giving her a sheepish smile.

"Just a little something to thank you for finally saying yes," he explained at her confused look.

Smiling, she opened the bag and beamed at him. Lily pulled out a beautiful pink fuzzy scarf.

"Rach said you'd like it," he added quickly, earning him a playful punch from Rachel on the shoulder.

"I love it, thank you!" she exclaimed and kissed James a little too eagerly.

"Okay, Rach and I don't do that thing around you guys so you should return the favor," Sirius said, clearly embarrassed by their best friend's behavior.

James and Lily pulled away, looking uncomfortable.

"Let's go back to the castle," Rachel suggested, "it's freezing out here."

The others happily agreed and walked up to Gryffindor tower together.

On Monday, McGonagall had a meeting with all of the Gryffindors who were fourth year or older.

"Ever since the very first Triwizard tournament, the host school would host the Yule Ball," she announced. The Gryffindors started murmuring things to each other. "Silence. Now, this ball is for students who are in their fourth year or older, but may ask students who are younger if they wish. The Yule Ball will be held on December 19th, the day before Christmas break begins,"

Sirius jerked his head up. His eyes sought Lily, who was sitting on the other side of the room with the girls. She met his eyes and mouthed, "You should do it then. That's your anniversary anyway, right?"

Sirius discreetly nodded.

"I'll do it that night," he mouthed back at her. He was going to say something else but stopped himself when Rachel was giving him a curious look. Sirius quickly smiled at her and she smiled back, looking confused.

"Everyone is to look their best that night," McGonagall continued. "And I beg you to be respectful. You may go,"

The students all stood up and started making their way to classes, whispering to one another.

"Rachel, could I speak with you a moment?" McGonagall called.

"I'll see you guys later," she said and the boys left the room leaving Rachel alone with McGonagall.

"Miss Delancy, it is tradition that the champions from each school will be the first to dance on the dance floor. So I strongly urge that if you and a certain Mr. Black aren't going together, you should get a date," she said with a small smile.

"Yes, professor," Rachel said, returning the smile and she left the classroom.

She found Sirius waiting outside for her. He grabbed her hand and they went off to class.

"So, the ball's a week and a half away," she said.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied, having a tiny tremor in his voice that Rachel didn't notice.

"I was just wondering if I could go with Adam," she said in a serious tone. When she saw his shocked face, she burst out laughing and added, "Wow, that was so worth it,"

"Yeah, yeah, so I was just wondering if you would go to the ball with me," Sirius proposed in a mock-nervous voice.

"Well, I would love to," she answered with a smile.

"Awesome! We'd better hurry before we're late to Potions," he said quickly.

During the days leading up to the Yule Ball, hordes of girls would swarm around James and Sirius, hoping to be asked by them to go to the ball, regardless of the fact that they already had dates. Homework was still plentiful, but the teachers were being unusually lenient with the students with all of the commotion. Sirius was becoming quite nervous and the Marauders were starting to notice. When Rachel was upstairs with Lily trying to decide ahead of time which dresses they would wear, they confronted him about it.

"Hey, Padfoot, what's going on with you?" Remus asked.

"Why? What do mean? There's nothing new going on," Sirius replied too quickly.

"Padfoot, there has to be," Peter persisted.

"Yeah, you're never this jittery or jumpy. At least not since Rachel stopped wanting to curse you," James added.

"No, there's nothing going on," Sirius refused to budge.

The day of the Yule Ball caused Hogwarts to go into energetic mode. Rachel and Lily found out that Maddie was going with Adam to the ball, which delighted Rachel, who revealed that she was waiting for it to happen. By seven o'clock, all of the students attending the Yule Ball had to go down to the Great Hall for dinner first and then dancing. Rachel, Lily, and Maddie had spent hours doing their hair, picking out outfits, and doing makeup.

Maddie was wearing a beautiful light pink dress that shimmered with matching strap high-heels and had her hair in curls. Since she was the first one done, she went downstairs to the Great Hall and met up with Adam in the room where the champions and their dates were to meet up.

Lily was wearing an elegant golden dress with tiny sparkles spread all over it. She was also wearing matching strap high-heels and wore golden jewelry and had her red hair wavy. Since she was finished, she went downstairs to the common room and found Remus in his dress robes chatting with a brunette, who must've been his date. James was not there yet and neither was Peter. However, Sirius was pacing in the corner of the room looking very anxious but still handsome. Knowing the source of this strange behavior, Lily walked over to him.

"Hey, Sirius," she greeted.

"Hi, Lily," he replied, looking up from the ground. "You look great," he added.

"Thanks. Listen, it's going to be fine. She loves you so much that there's no chance she'll say no," Lily explained.

"That's what I keep thinking but I just want it to be perfect and I keep wondering if she'll say no," Sirius confessed.

"Listen," she said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine."

"I know, thank you, Lily,"

"Anytime,"

Just then, James walked down the stairs in his dress robes and greeted Lily with a small kiss on the hand. Waving to Sirius, Remus and his date left with James and Lily to the Great Hall. Meanwhile, Rachel was upstairs putting on the finishing touches to her outfit.

Rachel was wearing a gorgeous flowing black dress with strapped-up stilettos. She was wearing the necklace and the ring she had received from Sirius during the years and had her hair straight, like usual. When she felt that she was ready, she exited the dormitory and went downstairs where she spotted Sirius in very handsome black dress robes.

"You look really handsome," she said to acknowledge her presence.

He snapped his head up and let out a low whistle.

"You look absolutely . . ." he said, but seemed at loss of words. Then he said, "You look absolutely spectacular."

A tiny blush crept up on her cheeks and she replied, "Thanks. Let's get going,"

Holding hands, they walked down to the champion's room where Adam and Maddie were chatting comfortably. They looked up at the approaching couple and stood up to greet them.

"You look great," the guys said to the other's date.

"Thanks," the girls replied.

The doors behind them opened to reveal McGonagall walking to them.

"Okay, I need you to line up at the entrance doors to the Great Hall. You will be sitting at the staff table for your dinner and then you will be the first dancers."

Doing as instructed, the two couples lined up outside of the Great Hall once McGonagall went back to the staff table. Sirius and Rachel were in front, as they were representing the host school, with Adam and Maddie behind them. The doors opened automatically and the two pairs walked up to the staff table in perfect unison, all eyes watching them. Some girls were throwing jealous looks at Rachel and Maddie because of their dates and they just smirked.

Adam sat next to Madam Maxime, Maddie sat next to him, Rachel sat next to Maddie, and Sirius sat on the end by Rachel. All of them had an elegant looking glass filled with ice and water and had an empty plate in front of them with a menu on it. The students at the house tables were already eating the food that was on the table. Apparently, the teachers didn't know what to do either and everyone looked at Dumbledore, who was looking at his menu. He said, "Pork chops,"

Out of nowhere, his meal appeared on his plate. Taking the cue, the others ordered their meal also. Rachel looked at the menu and had a tough time deciding her meal. She had it narrowed down to lasagna with a side salad, a 5oz filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes, or grilled tilapia basted in a pepper and lemon sauce with wild grain rice. After a couple of minutes, she ordered the tilapia, which appeared on her plate nanoseconds later.

After a very delicious meal with lots of chatting, laughing, and eating, the plates disappeared off of the tables while the students stood up to let the tables disappear also. A large wooden dance floor covered most of the usual stone floor and the students stood on the stone part while the champions walked out onto the wooden floor. They got into the proper posture for the dance that had been taught to them not too long ago. The band started to play and the couples started dancing.

They danced until the end of the song and ended with the entire audience clapping. Once another song started, more and more couples piled onto the dance floor. Peter was sitting in a corner by some other people who didn't have a date. James and Lily were dancing next to Sirius and Rachel during a slow song. Sirius glanced over at her and saw that she was looking at him pointedly. He bent down to Rachel's ear and said, "Let's go for a walk to the astronomy tower for a bit."

"Okay," she replied. Lily grinned at them as they walked off making James look at her questioningly.

"What was that about?" he mouthed.

"Nothing I can explain right now," she mouthed back and they continued to dance together.

Rachel and Sirius were hand in hand as they walked slowly up to the astronomy tower. As they were climbing up the steps, she turned to him and asked, "Why are we going to the astronomy tower?"

"Well, it's our anniversary and I want to spend a little time alone with you. Is that alright?"

She grinned.

"Yeah, I suppose so,"

They walked in silence up the rest of the stairs and into the astronomy tower. Together they walked to the window that was on the other side of the circular tower and gazed out into the dark sky speckled with stars.

"Wow, it's so beautiful outside," said Rachel breathlessly.

"Yeah, it is," Sirius agreed, "but not as beautiful as you."

"That's sweet," Rachel replied, a blush sneaking up onto her cheeks.

In the distance, they could hear the DJ say, "Okay, this is for those of you who are dating." Then their favorite love song came onto the speakers.

"May I have this dance?" Sirius offered, holding out his hand.

"Why, yes you may,"

Sirius pulled her close and they swayed to the slow romantic music. During the entire song, Rachel heard Sirius whispering the lyrics into her ear. She thought that maybe he was trying to imply something, but denied the idea as to not get her hopes up too high.

"Sirius?" she said as she pulled away from his grasp.

"Yeah?"

"Why were you whispering those lyrics in my ear?"

Sirius suddenly looked very determined but also a little nervous. He grabbed her hands and said in a soft but very hearable voice, "Rachel, I love you so much and I meant every word of those lyrics that I whispered to you. I promise that I will protect you, be loyal to you, and forever love you. I guess what I'm trying to say is," at this point he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring box. Rachel's eyes got teary and she looked happily surprised. "Rachel Delancy, I love you more than life itself, and I would be honored if you would spend your life with me. Will you marry me?"


End file.
